Mama June Shannon was awarded temporary custody of her 11-year-old granddaughter Kaitlyn following the death of June’s daughter Anna “Chickadee” Cardwell, according to multiple outlets, TMZ reports.
Mama June Shannon, 44, filed a petition in Georgia for a change in child custody and “for emergency ex parte relief,” meaning under emergency circumstances. She said Kaitlyn moved in with her a month before Anna died of cancer in December and that she’s been caring for the tween since.
Anna never publicly shared the identity of Kaitlyn’s father, although she raised her with ex-husband Michael Cardwell—along with their daughter Kylee, 8, before the couple’s 2017 split.
“If it wasn’t for her I would [not] be a mother,” Anna wrote on Instagram in 2022. “She is the smartest and sassiest little girl I know and I am so proud of her.”
She went on to marry Eldridge Toney in March 2023, with her younger sister Lauryn “Pumpkin” Efird serving as officiant at the private Georgia wedding.
At the time of her nuptials, Anna was undergoing chemotherapy for stage 4 adrenal carcinoma after doctors found the cancer in her liver, kidney and lungs.
The 29-year-old sadly died in June’s home on Dec. 9, her daughter Kylee’s eighth birthday.
“With the breaking heart, we are announcing that @annamarie35 is no longer with us,” June wrote on Instagram at the time. “She gave one hell of a fight for 10 months. She passed away with her family around her.”
She added, “We love y’all and continued prayers and thoughts for our family doing this difficult time.”
Four days later, Anna was laid to rest at a private funeral in Georgia with her mom, husband and oldest daughter in attendance to pay their respects.