Dwight Howard keeping me from my Grandson I raised

It was a late, sunny morning when I found my daughter face down on the bathroom floor.  As I stepped closer to her I could feel the water slowly saturating my slippers.  I didn’t bother looking down because my focus was on my precious Mimi. Laying in what I thought was a post seizure coma (she suffered from Epilepsy) or much worse.  As I turn her over, my worst dreams were imagined.  My beautiful, strong, courageous daughter wasn’t breathing.  She was gone.  My heart broke and then filled with adrenaline as I couldn’t process what was real or my imagination.  Surely she would wake up. I quickly call the police, as I sheild my 6 yr old grandson David from my daughter, his mother, in that unforgettable position.  I hardly had enough clarity to mourn as my mind and heart were fighting to keep her alive.   When the ambulance arrived, they immediately took her.  I stayed behind with David and my other daughter to hold and comfort them and stay in the place where her spirit took shelter in her last days.  Our family arrived and we mourned together.  This is something I will never forget.  A mother’s worst nightmare is losing her child.  Now, 7 months later, I face what seems to feel like that same nightmare all over again. 

My grandson, David, who I have had the pleasure of raising alongside my daughter for over 6 years, has been completely ripped from my arms and prevented from seeing or speaking to me.   I can remember the drive home from the hospital over 6 years ago with my daughter and sweet newborn David, yet, I haven’t been able to speak to David , see, hug, cuddle, or just tell him I love him since June 27th, 2020 (the 3 month anniversary of my daughter’s passing).  My heart is aching to the point where I wake up in the middle of the night crying from the emotional and physical pain this has caused. I can only imagine what David is feeling after being subjected to a 2 month, solitary confinement with a babysitter my daughter didn’t even trust, in the state of Orlando where he had never been to prior, and away from his own father (who CHOSE to enter the NBA Bubble in July knowing he wouldn’t be allowed to take David in with him until September if he chose to participate in the rest of the NBA season) and away from me and our family and even Dwight’s family.  Since July,  David has been (and to this day still is) prevented from speaking to anyone he ever knew and loved before his mother passed.   It’s the end of October.  Is this in the best interest of the child?  I strongly oppose.


David’s full name is David Dwight Rios-Howard.  A name I respected and admired at one time because it was picked by his own mother Melissa (Mimi) Rios and his father Dwight David Howard ll. Since my daughter’s passing 7 months ago, I have experienced a rollercoaster of emotions regarding David.  I knew one day his dad would come for him, though spending very little time with him while my daughter was alive.  Mimi would go above and beyond to try to keep Dwight and David’s bond close, while also respecting her own mother and son bond.  At times she sacrificed her own desire to make memories with David, like on Christmas or thanksgiving, for the sake of  David getting to experience both sides of his family. She cared about David having all of his family involved.  She always tried her best to keep the communication open and easily accessible.  Which is why I can’t understand why my son’s father is keeping me and our entire family away from David.  No calls, no text, no FaceTime, and no visitation.  Davids “home” has been and is in Calabasas. He never even got a chance to say goodbye.

Now, 7 months later, after trying so hard to reason with him and after David has been thoroughly traumatized in his father’s care in other ways I won’t mention publicly, Dwight is throwing his money around in court to get every court order and motion the court had established (such as FaceTimes and visitation) squashed and thrown out.  Only after he ignored the court’s orders and tried getting a new judge for our case, did they attempt at mediation.  But after seeing the levels Dwight has stooped to in the past 4 months to keep David and I apart, such as outright lying in his written declaration to the judge,  I honestly won’t take my chances in mediation.  It would draw the process out and I couldn’t afford it and he knows it.  Before now, I never believed family should take each other to court, but I had to break my own boundary for the sake of my grandson.


So now I am facing the court of appeals and powers beyond my control telling me they might agree with Dwight that seeing me would cause David “irreparable harm”.  All I can say is Money Talks.  I have fought this long to see David with my voice, resources and my own earnings and I CANT give up now.  I have to do all it takes to get to see my sweet grandson and stay in each other’s lives.   If you can resonate with my position and the position of my grandson then please consider donating to our cause.


It is the memory of my beloved daughter Mimi and what she wanted for David that motivates me the most to continue fighting to see my grandson and get a court order that prevents Dwight from treating my relationship with my grandson and Mimi’s legacy like a piece of dirt.

Please consider giving to level the field and allow the courts to see both sides equally and allow my voice and David’s sweet voice to be heard. My grandson is very outspoken and bold and they are silencing him as well.


So please consider giving to this cause if you feel led to.


Thank you for reading and God bless