In re Lyles

By Judge Randall G. Johnson

This is an appeal of an order of the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court of the City of Richmond that awarded custody of Naila Lyles to her paternal grandmother, Abena Nkromah. A trial de novo was held on October 20.

Naila will be two years old on November 17. Before she was bom and for a while after her birth, her parents, Gina L. Lyles and Rasoul A. Elcock, lived together. They were never married. In the early part of 1998, Lyles left Elcock to live with Lyles’ mother. She took Naila with her. In March 1998, Lyles petitioned the juvenile court for…