A dastardly scheme has put more kids in danger in St. Louis County, Missouri.
Lakesha Carter joined me on the podcast to discuss how the St. Louis County family court mafia has ignored abuse in her case.
Her custody case started in 2021 in Illinois before both parties moved to St. Louis County.
In 2022, she told me, her children came home from the other parent’s, Jeannette Duncan, home with bruises, and her oldest son described abuse.
She said her youngest son is autistic and non-verbal.
“I advocated in every way I could,” she told me.
She called police, went to social services, and filed for a temporary restraining order (TRO).
That’s when Duncan flipped the script on the silver bullet technique.
Duncan filed a TRO in response, arguing that the allegations were concocted. Below is Lakesha describing the chain of events in detail.
The judge at the time was Judge Virginia Lay.
In 2021, I covered the Hagemeier case, where the court covered up for child molestation. Judge Virginia Lay presided over that case.
Judge Lay was at it again in this case. Lakesha’s TRO was denied while Duncan’s was granted.
Lakesha said one reason cited was that her older son had great grades and was well adjusted- which the court thought was impossible if he was being abused.
As a result of the TRO, she was reduced to supervised visits.
In September 2025, her son reported abuse again.
This time, Lakesha told me, she developed a lot of evidence, including the positive involvement of social services. She described that below.
Lakesha told me that her son’s molar tooth came out, and he told her that it was loosened after Jeannette hit him.
She went to the hospital and called social services; she told me.
Referring to the social services caseworker, Lakesha told me, “Talked to my son alone. She saw there was a mark also on his head…After she talked to my son separately, she determined that children’s division were going to determine that she needed to put a safety plan in place- that she needed to keep the kids with me until a forensic interview was done.”
By the following Monday, Duncan repeated the same pattern. She filed a TRO, arguing that Lakesha was making up stories again.
Duncan also accused Lakesha of harassing the parenting coordinator, Hank Miller, in the TRO.
Miller was one of the participants in the notorious 2021 zoom conference; another participant was Cynthia Albin, who was appointed as the guardian ad litem (GAL) on October 9, 2025.
Albin and Miller did not respond to emails for comment.
Lakesha told me that she was not harassing Miller, but rather she wanted him off the case because he was exceeding the authority she thought he had when she agreed to have him join. That part of the interview is below.
The judge by this point had switched to Judge Jeff Medler, formerly a notorious GAL in the area.
Judge Medler initially scheduled a hearing for December 2025, where Lakesha could have presented evidence.
That hearing was postponed, along with subsequent hearings, until the TRO hearing was turned into a custody hearing.
That custody hearing was initially scheduled for April but has since been pushed back to late July and early August 2026.
That means the evidence- teeth falling out, son’s testimony, and social services conclusions- still hasn’t reached court.
Meanwhile, the TRO Duncan got remains in place.
The court docket makes Lakesha look difficult. That’s because since September she’s had five lawyers.
Rather than being difficult, Lakesha told me her lawyers each exhibit the same pattern- promising aggressive action before entering the case while wanting to get out of the case after getting their money.
I reached out to the lawyers she has had. Adriana Cross was her first attorney and issued this statement, “I am licensed to practice law in both Missouri and Illinois. Although I previously lived in Chicago, I currently live and practice in Missouri and regularly represent clients in jurisdictions within reasonable driving distance, including the St. Louis metropolitan area and surrounding Illinois counties.
“I do not comment on current or former client matters, litigation strategy, attorney withdrawal decisions, or pending proceedings.”
Another attorney, Tarihya McClain, told me to “really listen” to what Lakesha was saying- all the more reason to check out the interview.
An email to Ms. Duncan’s attorney, Jill Puertes, was left unreturned.
