Mindy McCready Leaves Court a 'Happy Girl' After Custody Ruling
Singer did not divulge her or her son's fate following court ruling.
Dec. 6, 2011— -- Country singer Mindy McCready left an Arkansas courthouse a "happy girl" Monday without divulging details about a juvenile court judge's ruling on what will happen to her and her five-year-old son Zander.
"I can't talk about it, but I can tell you all I'm a happy girl. I'm a happy girl right now," she said to reporters gathered outside the Izard County courtroom of Judge Lee Harrod.
"I love Judge Harrod, I'll tell you that. I love that man. He's a good man," she said before being driven away from the courthouse.
Later Monday evening, McCready sent a text message to HLN's Jane Valez Mitchell that the host read on air.
"WE WON!!! ZAN STAYS," McCready wrote. "Court details sealed but we love Judge Lee W Harrod."
Details on when the singer may be able to take Zander back home to Nashville, and whether McCready will get permanent custody of her son remain unclear.
"The next step would be for the judge to decide," Amy Webb, director of communications for the Arkansas Department of Human Services, told ABC News.
Florida Department of Children and Families officials had been expected to request in the hearing that Zander be sent back to Cape Coral, Fla., where McCready's mother, Gayle Inge, is his legal guardian.
"We will not discuss details of this case per the judge's order. Of course we continue to work with all involved parties to ensure this child's safety and well-being," a Florida DCF spokeswoman told ABCNews.com.
McCready's rep offered no information either. "All proceedings and documentation surrounding the hearing are sealed," Kat Atwood said in a statement to ABCNews.com. "No further information is available at this time."
McCready and her son were found by Arkansas police Friday hiding in the closet of an unoccupied summer home days after the pair were first reported missing.
"I understand when a Mom wants her kid, and a mom would do anything for her kid, but she is not excused from the law just because her name is Mindy McCready," her younger half-brother, Sky Phelan, wrote on a Facebook fan page Sunday. "The extreme that Mindy went to was completely unnecessary."
The boy's father and McCready's ex-boyfriend, Billy McKnight, revealed Monday that he had allowed the singer an extended visit with their son after the Thanksgiving weekend.
"She called me up before Thanksgiving and said, 'Hey, look Billy, I'm going back home and I'm going to have these kids [McCready is expecting twins]. I'm not going to be able to be down here. Could I keep the baby this weekend?' And I offered that to her, and when I did that she took him," McKnight told the website Taste of Country.
Under the current custody agreement, McCready's mother, Gayle Inge, is Zander's guardian. McKnight told Taste of Country that he has unsupervised visits with his son four nights a week, and the boy stays with his grandparents the other nights of the week. McCready's visits are supervised by her parents, he said.
But the singer claimed that her son was in danger "both physically and emotionally" while living with her mother, and she was willing to risk jail to protect Zander.
"I'm a mom first," she told The Associated Press last Thursday from Nashville. "No matter what happens, I'm going to protect my kid. If I have to go to jail, so be it."
Both Inge and Phelan deny the abuse allegations.
"If anyone wants to message me, and ask me if I am abused, you are welcome to. I will give you the answer NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT AND NEITHER IS ZANDER," Phelan wrote, using capital letters for emphasis. "All that boy gets is lots of love. My mom is not and never was an abusive person."
"She is looking for the easy way out when she could work the programs provided to her by the court system," Phelan added.
McKnight, who hopes to have full custody of Zander by early 2012, echoed Phelan. "Instead of complying, she did what she did, which is going to set her back probably a pretty good bit," he said.
McCready defied a Florida judge's order last week when she refused to return her son to his grandmother's house. She revealed at the time that she was pregnant with twins and would be unable to travel.
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