In re M.I. CA2/2

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

I. Facts

Father and Elizabeth M. (mother) met in 2014 when mother was 15 years old. They are not married, but have been a couple since 2016. Their relationship is tumultuous. Father is possessive of mother and engages in conduct aimed at controlling her: He worries when mother leaves the apartment they share without telling him where she is going, suspects mother is lying to him about her destinations, and sometimes takes mother’s keys or her cell phone away from her to prevent her from leaving. He would get upset when mother was “disobedient” to him. Mother and father had their first child, M.I., in December 2018. In February 2020, father got physical with mother. While they were doing laundry, and while M.I. was with them, father pushed mother to the ground, causing her to cut her lip. Father

2 then grabbed M.I. and fled the scene with him. Father was arrested, and M.I. was recovered. Father pled no contest to misdemeanor battery and was placed on three years of probation, including a requirement that he attend a 52-week domestic violence course. Father defiantly refused to enroll in the domestic violence course, proclaiming that—despite…