Attorneys representing Richaun Holmes say the Sacramento Kings center has been vindicated after he was awarded full custody of his 6-year-old son following an ugly and bitter custody battle with his ex-wife.
Holmes was reunited with his son last week when a judge in Georgia ordered the boy’s mother, Allexis Holmes, to relinquish the child after she violated a recent Los Angeles County custody order, according to documents obtained by The Sacramento Bee. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Alexandra Manning denied Allexis Holmes’ petition for a temporary protective order and admonished her for an “apparent attempt … to evade the custody order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County.”
Allexis Holmes had previously sought restraining orders in Los Angeles and Sacramento counties based on allegations of domestic violence and child abuse. The courts have denied those requests, ruling that Richaun Holmes presents “no risk of harm to the minor child.”
“After numerous falsehoods and character attacks, Richaun Holmes has been vindicated by courts in two different states and finally reunited with his son,” attorneys Steve Haney and Anne Moder said in a joint statement to The Bee. “Richaun’s focus can now return to being an exemplary, loving father and contributing member of the Sacramento Kings. In regards to the most recent unfounded allegations of abuse and domestic violence, Richaun Holmes is currently seeking all available civil remedies.”
Allexis Holmes insists this fight is far from over. She has accused Richaun Holmes of physically abusing their son and causing him to bleed from a blow to the head during a Feb. 6 visitation, according to court records. Richaun Holmes has vehemently denied allegations of abuse.
Haney said Allexis Holmes has manipulated her child and the legal system in an attempt to gain a favorable ruling against Richaun Holmes in a custody battle that began when the couple divorced in 2019.
“Our position is that she coached the child to make these allegations and, more importantly, I think, the court found them to be unsubstantiated,” Haney said. “To our knowledge, there’s no active law enforcement investigation. We have orders in two different states that it’s in the best interest of the child to be in the custody of Richaun Holmes and not Allexis Holmes, but she kept repeatedly violating court orders. We counted 34 times she has violated court orders. In 20 years of being an attorney, I’ve never seen a more noncompliant litigant in a family court case.”
An April 21 order from Los Angeles County Family Court Judge Thomas Trent Lewis awarded Richaun Holmes sole legal and physical custody of his son. Allexis Holmes was granted supervised visitation up to 10 hours per week with provisions for child abduction prevention. She was ordered to turn over the boy’s birth certificate and passport with specific language prohibiting her from leaving the state with the child.
The order stated: “The court finds there is a risk that Allexis Holmes will take the child without permission because that party has … violated — or threatened to violate — a custody or visitation (parenting time) order in the past … does not have strong ties to California … (and) has removed the minor child from California in violation of court orders.”
Allexis Holmes contends Lewis is a private mediator who is being paid by her ex-husband. She is accusing Lewis of “legal kidnapping.”
“Judge Thomas Trent Lewis is a private arbitrator who has lied to the Fulton County judge and said he was a superior court judge in order to dissolve my temporary restraining order,” Allexis Holmes told The Bee on Tuesday. “I am actively appealing that decision because it is easily proven that Judge Thomas Trent Lewis is a private mediator and not a superior court judge, and he will have to answer to the court of appeals for lying and portraying to be a superior court judge in order to keep his stipulation where he gets paid $2,000 an hour to do whatever Richaun Holmes says.”
Allexis Holmes was ordered to deliver the boy to Richaun Holmes by noon on April 22 in the lobby of the West Sacramento Police Department. The order stipulated: “If the petitioner (Allexis Holmes) fails to deliver the minor child on April 22, 2022, then, by operation of law, the court appoints the Los Angeles District Attorney Child Abduction Unit to locate the whereabouts of the minor child, take possession of the minor child, and deliver the minor child to respondent (Richaun Holmes).”
After failing to appear April 22, Allexis Holmes filed a petition for a temporary protective order April 25 in Fulton County. A hearing was held via Zoom on May 5. That hearing was suspended and reconvened May 6 with instructions for both parties to appear in person and for Allexis Holmes to bring the child to the Fulton County Superior Court.
Allexis Holmes appeared with the child, who was sequestered during the hearing. Allexis Holmes admitted she failed to deliver the child to Richaun Holmes pursuant to the California custody order, according to court records. The judge dismissed Allexis Holmes’ request for a temporary protective order and ordered her to pay Richaun Holmes’ legal fees.
“The court is disturbed by petitioner’s apparent attempt to use the protections afforded to victims of domestic violence by this court and the laws of this state to evade the custody order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, California,” the judge wrote. “The court finds that an award of the attorney fees Responded incurred in defending against petitioner’s petition is warranted and that the fees incurred by respondent were reasonable and necessary. The court hereby orders Petitioner to pay $3,000.00 to respondent’s counsel … within 30 days of the date of this order.”
