In the Interest of: J.H., K.H., T.H., Juveniles; Juvenile Officer vs. J.M.S.(2025)
Missouri Court of Appeals, Western DistrictDecember 16, 2025#WD87887
Decision date: May 9, 2023ED111003
Affirmed
Procedural posture: Appeal from judgments terminating parental rights
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IN THE INTEREST OF: E.R.M.S., T.M.D.S., ) No. ED111003 and Z.W.D.S. ) ) Appeal from the Circuit Court ) of St. Louis County ) ) Honorable Ellen W. Dunne ) ) ) FILED: May 9, 2023 Introduction R.K. ("Mother") appeals from the trial court's judgments terminating her parental rights over her children, E.R.M.S., T.M.D.S., and Z.W.D.S. (collectively "the Children"). Mother raises four point on appeal. In her first three points, Mother argues the trial court erred in finding clear, cogent, and convincing evidence supporting the termination of her parental rights on the grounds of Section 211.447.5(2) 1 abuse and neglect, Section 211.447.5(3) failure to rectify, and Section 211.447.5(5) parental unfitness. Mother then argues in Point Four that the evidence did not support the trial court's finding that termination of parental rights was in the best interests of the Children under Section 211.447.7. Because we find that the record contains clear, cogent, and convincing evidence that Mother has an untreatable chemical dependency on methamphetamine preventing her from providing the necessary care, custody, and control of the
1 All Section references are to RSMo (Cum. Supp. 2018). No subsequent statutory changes to Section 211.447 are relevant to this appeal.
Issue-specific holdings extracted from the court's opinion.
Issue: Whether the record contains clear, cogent, and convincing evidence to support the termination of Mother's parental rights.
Yes; the record contains clear, cogent, and convincing evidence that Mother has an untreatable chemical dependency on methamphetamine preventing her from providing the necessary care, custody, and control of the children, thereby supporting the termination of parental rights.
Cases sharing legal topics and authorities with this opinion.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Western DistrictDecember 16, 2025#WD87887
Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern DistrictSeptember 26, 2025#SD38913
Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern DistrictJuly 29, 2025#SD38618
Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern DistrictJuly 8, 2025#ED113100
Missouri Court of Appeals, Western DistrictJune 17, 2025#WD87182
Missouri Court of Appeals, Western DistrictJanuary 8, 2025#WD87136