In Re Adoption No. 12612

WILNER, Judge.

This contested custody dispute, between the birth mother of a young child and the woman who has been the child’s principal caregiver for most of his life, involves the construction of Maryland Code, § 9-101 of the Family Law Article. Ultimately at issue is whether the Circuit Court for Montgomery County erred in awarding custody of the child to his birth mother, notwithstanding (1) that she had murdered another of her children six years earlier, (2) while on probation for that crime, she engaged in a scheme of credit card fraud, leading to her conviction of mail fraud, and (3)…