Mindy McCready a "Happy Girl," Claims Victory in Custody Battle

Country star all smiles after leaving a custody hearing yesterday in Arkansas

By Josh Grossberg Dec 06, 2011 9:15 PMTags
Mindy McCreadyRandi Radcliff/AdMedia/Sipa Press

Not only does Mindy McCready want the world to know she's still here, but she's also a "happy girl."

That's what the country crooner told reporters at any rate on Monday outside an Arkansas courthouse after she attended a hearing concerning who will get custody of her 5-year-old son Zander: she or her mother, Gayle Inge.

"I can't talk about it, but I can tell you all I'm a happy girl," the 36-year-old McCready said after the proceeding in Izard County Court.

While she didn't disclose exactly what was decided in the closed-door session, the troubled entertainer did heap praise on Judge Lee Harrod.

"I love Judge Harrod, I'll tell you that. I love that man. He's a good man," she also told the gaggle of media before driving away.

Later that evening, according to ABC News, McCready texted HLN's Jane Valez Mitchell, which the host read on the air.

WE WON!!! ZAN STAYS," wrote the I'm Still Here singer. "Court details sealed but we love Judge Lee W. Harrod."

Given it's a family matter and court documents are sealed, it's unknown if, in fact, the judge granted the country star permanent custody or temporary custody, like allowing her to take her son back with her to Nashville, or whether he ordered Zander remanded to his grandparents.

An attorney for McCready was unavailable for comment, but her camp did issue a statement to E! News confirming that "Mindy and Zander both remain in Arkansas at this time" and that "Zander remains with a foster care family" there.

The boy had originally been staying at McCready's parents' home in Cape Coral, Fla., up until last week when the state's Department of Children and Families filed a missing-persons report when they were unable to locate him.

It turned out the performer had removed Zander during a routine visit without the permission of his maternal grandmother, who was appointed the boy's legal guardian in 2007 after the former Celebrity Rehab patient was jailed for violating her probation on a drug-related charge.

A Florida judge subsequently signed an emergency pick-up order requiring McCready to produce Zander in court by last Thursday.

While local police said they were not treating the report as a missing persons case and both mother and son were "safe," the pair only turned up after authorities in Arkansas tracked them down at a lake house owned by McCready's boyfriend whereupon they took Zander into their care.

McCready also made news last week when her rep confirmed that she's more than five months pregnant with twins, though no word on who the father is.

—Additional reporting by Baker Machado