Lakers' Dwight Howard Hit With Custody Case By Late Ex-Girlfriend's Mother
By Ryan Naumann on July 27, 2020 at 3:40 PM EDT
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Dwight Howard is being taken to court by the mother of his ex-girlfriend Melissa Rios, who passed away earlier this year.
According to court documents obtained by The Blast, Melissa’s mother, Edelmira Vega Rios, filed a custody case against the NBA star in Los Angeles Superior Court. Dwight has a 6-year-old son David from his relationship with Melissa.
The case comes only months after Melissa tragically passed away from epileptic seizures. She died at her home in Calabasas, California. She was a Los Angeles real estate agent and epilepsy advocate.
Dwight spoke about the situation, “I’ve had some things happen in my personal life that has been difficult to really handle. My son’s mom, she had passed away a month and a half ago and it’s extremely difficult for me to try to understand how to talk to my son, who’s 6 years old, just about the whole situation.”The NBA star and his son attended Melissa’s funeral in Nevada.
One of her last posts on social media was on David’s birthday.
She wrote, “Happy Birthday to the love of my life, King David. It’s truly a blessing to be your mother. This has been the best 6 years of my life. I would do it all over again. I love your personality and spirit and how you’re always trying to make people laugh. I can’t wait to see what the future holds. Love you mi corazón ? 12/14”
Melissa and Dwight seemed to have a good co-parenting relationship. She regularly posted about David getting ready to go see his father and headed over to his home.
In one photo, Melissa wrote, “✈️ out to see his Dad. Told me not to be sad because he can FaceTime me. How is so grown but only 4? ???” Dwight has not publicly commented on the custody case being filed.
