Miele v. Gregory

Appellant, Louis Paul Miele, filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in Wilcox County, Georgia, seeking the return of his minor child who was in the custody of the child’s maternal great aunt and great uncle.

Appellant is the only living parent of the child, the mother having died in October of 1979. Appellees, Gladys and Wendell Gregory, aunt and uncle of the child’s mother, claim appellant is not entitled to the custody of his child because he has forfeited his parental rights of custody and control by failing to provide necessaries for the child and by abandoning the child. See Code Ann.…