Soldier Fighting For Custody After Wife Sold Baby She Claimed Had Died

A soldier with the 142nd Military Police Company who was stationed in Seoul, South Korea is in the middle of a strange custody battle over a child that is not even his. When Sgt. Steven Garcia left for his overseas assignment, his wife had just become pregnant with what he believed was his first child.

While he was in Seoul, Garcia learned from his sister that his son had died during childbirth. 

But about one month later, he discovered that the child was alive and had been sold to another couple by his wife, Marina. Police in Arizona pulled over a Texas couple for speeding and found the pair had a three-day-old infant with them. The officer brought Alex Hernandez and his wife, Leslie Morin Hernandez, into the station for questioning after he discovered that the two were not the biological parents of the child. Police discovered that Alex had fraudulently signed the birth certificate indicating he was the father. 

Police tracked down Marina and she admitted that she signed away her parental rights because she wanted to get rid of the child, which she believed was a "problem in her life." She also told police that Steven was not the father, something which was shocking to him. She indicated that she had no idea who the biological father really was. 

A DNA test confirmed that Steven was not the father, but that did not stop him from attempting to gain custody of the baby, who was put into the custody of Arizona’s Department of Child Safety. Stevens told KVOA that when he found out he was not the father he was "was pretty upset." He added that he "was kind of in denial. I couldn't believe what was going on."

Despite finding out that the child was not his, he decided to fight for custody of "Baby Leo" because he was adopted and understands how important it is to have a father. 

“My adopted father completely changed my life,” he said. “Without him I would not be where I am today, and for the opportunity to do that for someone else, I believe it’s important. It could change the child’s life and give him a better future, and I believe that’s the right thing to do.”

Alex Hernandez pleaded guilty to a forgery charge and his wife pleaded guilty to one count of fraudulent schemes. Marina Garcia pleaded guilty to a felony count of an attempted fraudulent scheme for forging the birth certificate.


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