027: When Family Court Overlooks Risk: Kathryn Zook on Custody, Abuse, and Reform

027: When Family Court Overlooks Risk: Kathryn Zook on Custody, Abuse, and Reform

In this episode, Hope Hooton speaks with Kathryn Zook, a mental health and substance abuse professional and mother who shares her experience navigating the California family court system after leaving an abusive marriage. Kathryn describes years of custody proceedings in which her documented concerns were reframed as “high conflict,” while her ex-husband allegedly used their son as a weapon and her reports of abuse went nowhere, complicated by conflicts of interest involving his remarriage to a criminal DA in the same courthouse. She recounts the financial strain of legal battles, her son’s trauma-related behavioral struggles, and the turning point when he refused to return to his father at age 11. Kathryn discusses her memoir, “Your Honor, Not My Son’s Keeper,” her faith, and her advocacy for reform, including trauma training mandates for judges and evaluators. Get your copy here: Your Honor, Not My Son's Keeper by Kathryn Zook Your Honor, Not My Son's Keeper: 11:44: CADC CHt, Kathryn Zook: 9798902233732: Amazon.com: Books [https://www.amazon.com/Your-Honor-Not-Sons-Keeper/dp/B0GSBZ2RMN] TRIGGER WARNING: This podcast contains deeply disturbing content, including firsthand accounts from parents and family members who have lost children to familicide—the murder of a child by a parent or caregiver. The stories are raw, emotional, and include details of immense loss, system failures, and trauma. Listeners are advised to take care, and may pause or stop the podcast if needed. Connect with Hope Hooton: Email: hopeinthepain@gmail.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hope_in_the_pain/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hope.in.the.pain YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hopeinthepain Website: voicesagainstfilicide.odoo.com [https://voicesagainstfilicide.odoo.com]  Support & Subscribe: If you found this episode meaningful, please subscribe, leave a review, and share this podcast to amplify the stories of those who can no longer speak for themselves. Voices Against Filicide Merch Shop: https://momcast-productions.myspreadshop.com/ The Rowan Project: https://therowanproject.org/ Production Credits: Written, Researched, and Hosted by: Hope Hooton Produced & Edited by: Rachel Holloway A Momcast Production Voices Against Filicide is a part of Momcast Production LLC. All content, including but not limited to audio, written materials, and visual assets, are protected under copyright law. Unauthorized use, reproduction, or distribution of this content is strictly prohibited. © 2024 Momcast Production LLC. All rights reserved.

026: Inside Reunification Camps: Georgia Protective Parents on Family Court Failures and Child Safety with Kitty Mayo

In this episode Hope Hooton sits down with Kitty Mayo, organizer of Georgia Protective Parents, who shares how her stepsons were ordered into the Family Bridges reunification program after abuse allegations shifted from criminal to custody court, despite expert testimony. Mayo describes reunification camps as a for-profit, coercive system involving threats from transport agents, isolation from protective family, propaganda denying abuse, and the use of sealed records and gag orders that block transparency and data. She recounts paying $100,000 for a week-long program, challenges a gag order through appeal, and discusses efforts to pass Georgia legislation to ban these camps, which she says was ultimately blocked by political leaders and divorce attorneys. Mayo urges organizing state-by-state and calls the practice legalized trafficking. Follow Georgia Protective Parents on Instagram: (3) Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/georgiaprotectiveparents] TRIGGER WARNING: This podcast contains deeply disturbing content, including firsthand accounts from parents and family members who have lost children to familicide—the murder of a child by a parent or caregiver. The stories are raw, emotional, and include details of immense loss, system failures, and trauma. Listeners are advised to take care, and may pause or stop the podcast if needed. Connect with Hope Hooton: Email: hopeinthepain@gmail.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hope_in_the_pain/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hope.in.the.pain YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hopeinthepain Website: voicesagainstfilicide.odoo.com [https://voicesagainstfilicide.odoo.com]  Support & Subscribe: If you found this episode meaningful, please subscribe, leave a review, and share this podcast to amplify the stories of those who can no longer speak for themselves. Voices Against Filicide Merch Shop: https://momcast-productions.myspreadshop.com/ The Rowan Project: https://therowanproject.org/ Production Credits: Written, Researched, and Hosted by: Hope Hooton Produced & Edited by: Rachel Holloway A Momcast Production Voices Against Filicide is a part of Momcast Production LLC. All content, including but not limited to audio, written materials, and visual assets, are protected under copyright law. Unauthorized use, reproduction, or distribution of this content is strictly prohibited. © 2024 Momcast Production LLC. All rights reserved.

025: Amari’s Story: A Mother’s Fight Against Filicide Pt. 2

In this episode Hope Hooton interviews Nakesa Sineath, who shares about losing her firstborn son to filicide, when she was 19. Nakesa recounts becoming a teen mom, Amari’s father’s inconsistency and manipulation, and earlier warning signs after Amari returned from his father’s care ill with walking pneumonia. In 2015, after months of no contact, she allowed Amari’s father to have him for two weeks; Amari cried at the handoff, she was prevented from speaking to him, and he was killed before his scheduled return. Nakesa remembers Amari’s gentle, loving personality and gets into the work she has done since to raise awarness and help make change.  Follow Nakesa Sineath: Instagram - (2) Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/life_of_mrs.sineath] Facebook - (14) Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/nakesasineathofficial/] YouTube - Nakesa Sineath - YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@nakesasineath] Get your copies here: The Act Of Filicide: The Amari Barnhill Story: Barnhill, Nakesa: 9781979470988: Amazon.com: Books [https://www.amazon.com/Act-Filicide-Amari-Barnhill-Story/dp/1979470987] Heaven Didn't Wait: Grieving, Surviving & Healing Post The Loss Of A Child: Barnhill, Nakesa: 9781077491656: Amazon.com: Books [https://www.amazon.com/Heaven-Didnt-Wait-Grieving-Surviving/dp/1077491654] BoldJourney: Reclaiming Voice Through Grief: Nakesa Sineath on Activism, Healing, and Honoring Amari – Bold Journey Magazine [https://boldjourney.com/reclaiming-voice-through-grief-nakesa-sineath-on-activism-healing-and-honoring-amari/] Connect with Hope Hooton: Email: hopeinthepain@gmail.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hope_in_the_pain/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hope.in.the.pain YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hopeinthepain Website: voicesagainstfilicide.odoo.com [https://voicesagainstfilicide.odoo.com]  Support & Subscribe: If you found this episode meaningful, please subscribe, leave a review, and share this podcast to amplify the stories of those who can no longer speak for themselves. Voices Against Filicide Merch Shop: https://momcast-productions.myspreadshop.com/ The Rowan Project: https://therowanproject.org/ Production Credits: Written, Researched, and Hosted by: Hope Hooton Produced & Edited by: Rachel Holloway A Momcast Production Voices Against Filicide is a part of Momcast Production LLC. All content, including but not limited to audio, written materials, and visual assets, are protected under copyright law. Unauthorized use, reproduction, or distribution of this content is strictly prohibited. © 2024 Momcast Production LLC. All rights reserved.

024: Amari’s Story: A Mother’s Fight Against Filicide Pt. 1

In this episode Hope Hooton interviews Nakesa Sineath, who shares about losing her firstborn son to filicide, when she was 19. Nakesa recounts becoming a teen mom, Amari’s father’s inconsistency and manipulation, and earlier warning signs after Amari returned from his father’s care ill with walking pneumonia. In 2015, after months of no contact, she allowed Amari’s father to have him for two weeks; Amari cried at the handoff, she was prevented from speaking to him, and he was killed before his scheduled return. Nakesa remembers Amari’s gentle, loving personality and gets into the work she has done since to raise awarness and help make change.  Follow Nakesa Sineath: Instagram - (2) Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/life_of_mrs.sineath] Facebook - (14) Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/nakesasineathofficial/] YouTube - Nakesa Sineath - YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@nakesasineath] Get your copies here: The Act Of Filicide: The Amari Barnhill Story: Barnhill, Nakesa: 9781979470988: Amazon.com: Books [https://www.amazon.com/Act-Filicide-Amari-Barnhill-Story/dp/1979470987] Heaven Didn't Wait: Grieving, Surviving & Healing Post The Loss Of A Child: Barnhill, Nakesa: 9781077491656: Amazon.com: Books [https://www.amazon.com/Heaven-Didnt-Wait-Grieving-Surviving/dp/1077491654] BoldJourney: Reclaiming Voice Through Grief: Nakesa Sineath on Activism, Healing, and Honoring Amari – Bold Journey Magazine [https://boldjourney.com/reclaiming-voice-through-grief-nakesa-sineath-on-activism-healing-and-honoring-amari/] Connect with Hope Hooton: Email: hopeinthepain@gmail.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hope_in_the_pain/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hope.in.the.pain YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hopeinthepain Website: voicesagainstfilicide.odoo.com [https://voicesagainstfilicide.odoo.com]  Support & Subscribe: If you found this episode meaningful, please subscribe, leave a review, and share this podcast to amplify the stories of those who can no longer speak for themselves. Voices Against Filicide Merch Shop: https://momcast-productions.myspreadshop.com/ The Rowan Project: https://therowanproject.org/ Production Credits: Written, Researched, and Hosted by: Hope Hooton Produced & Edited by: Rachel Holloway A Momcast Production Voices Against Filicide is a part of Momcast Production LLC. All content, including but not limited to audio, written materials, and visual assets, are protected under copyright law. Unauthorized use, reproduction, or distribution of this content is strictly prohibited. © 2024 Momcast Production LLC. All rights reserved.

023: The Louisiana 8 - Filicide Case

This episode covers the April 19, 2026 Shreveport, Louisiana mass filicide in which authorities say 31-year-old Shamar Elkins shot and killed eight children (seven of his own and their cousin), critically injuring two women, while a 13-year-old reportedly escaped; Elkins fled, carjacked a vehicle, and later died after a police pursuit. Hooten frames the case within domestic violence, coercive control, separation risk, and possible mental health deterioration, outlines warning signs and the importance of intervention, notes prior law-enforcement contact involving firearms and that the mother had sought police help, and advocates for stronger protections including Arizona’s proposed Alec and Lydia Act (HB 2995). TRIGGER WARNING: This podcast contains deeply disturbing content, including firsthand accounts from parents and family members who have lost children to familicide—the murder of a child by a parent or caregiver. The stories are raw, emotional, and include details of immense loss, system failures, and trauma. Listeners are advised to take care, and may pause or stop the podcast if needed. Connect with Hope Hooton: Email: hopeinthepain@gmail.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hope_in_the_pain/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hope.in.the.pain YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hopeinthepain Website: voicesagainstfilicide.odoo.com [https://voicesagainstfilicide.odoo.com]  Support & Subscribe: If you found this episode meaningful, please subscribe, leave a review, and share this podcast to amplify the stories of those who can no longer speak for themselves. Voices Against Filicide Merch Shop: https://momcast-productions.myspreadshop.com/ The Rowan Project: https://therowanproject.org/ Production Credits: Written, Researched, and Hosted by: Hope Hooton Produced & Edited by: Rachel Holloway A Momcast Production Voices Against Filicide is a part of Momcast Production LLC. All content, including but not limited to audio, written materials, and visual assets, are protected under copyright law. Unauthorized use, reproduction, or distribution of this content is strictly prohibited. © 2024 Momcast Production LLC. All rights reserved.