Community Corner

OC Court Clears Way for Doss to Keep Baby Vanessa

The only mother Baby Vanessa has known, Stacey Doss can keep the the toddler after justices dismissed the case involving the birth father.

A panel of appellate court justices in Santa Ana today dismissed the case involving the cross-country custody dispute between a Rancho Santa Margarita foster mother of a nearly 3-year-old girl and the toddler's birth father in Ohio.

The move meant the agreement reached between Stacey Doss and Benjamin Mills Jr. can be finalized legally.

The appellate court's dismissal was essentially a formality because of the settlement agreement. However, it was necessary so Ohio officials can sign off on the agreement granting custody of Vanessa, who will celebrate her third birthday June 13, to Doss.

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Doss moved to drop her appellate court claim to block the Ohio courts from awarding custody to Mills or his mother, but the appellate court justices had to approve it. Both sides agreed to the settlement March 14.

"It is a huge black cloud that has been lifted,"' Doss told City News Service of the final legal step to finalize the custody dispute, which goes back to last summer when an Orange County Superior Court judge relinquished jurisdiction over the case to the Ohio courts.

Find out what's happening in Rancho Santa Margaritawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The settlement, which grants visitation to Mills so long as his mother is with him, is not perfect, but Doss is satisfied with the arrangement.

"Custody is not adoption, so I still have some hurdles to go through,'" Doss said. "It's not exactly what I wanted, but I took it because I wanted to keep Vanessa, which is the most important thing.''

Doss said one of the biggest drawbacks is that she cannot appoint a legal guardian for Vanessa in case Doss dies before she's an adult.

However, Doss and Vanessa are settling into a normal routine and both are anticipating a June 12 birthday party that will include all the volunteers who helped Doss with the legal struggle.

"We're living now, doing normal things like swimming lessons and getting cupcakes for her birthday,'' Doss said. 'It makes me think, 'Oh, this is what it's like to be a normal mom.' "

Mills pleaded no contest Wednesday in Ohio to three felony counts of theft, according to the Dayton Daily News. One count involves Mills taking a child support debit card from a woman who gave him a ride in February and the other two counts involve him falsely claiming to have custody of his children and receiving more than $8,000 in benefits, the newspaper reported.

Mills is scheduled to be sentenced June 21.

—City News Service


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