A video of a young girl crying as she is removed from the relatives who say they have cared for her has sparked an emotional reaction online.
The footage shows officers standing beside vehicles outside a residential neighborhood while family members appear distressed.
A child can be heard crying and resisting as the situation unfolds.
The video has since been shared widely on social media, with viewers questioning what happened and why the child was being taken away.
According to the girl's family, the child is a 9-year-old named Mariah'Jai.
Her aunt Gabrielle Freeman says she, her grandmother Monica Freeman and her great-grandmother Genevieve Freeman have been important caregivers in the girl's life.
The family says Mariah'Jai has strong emotional ties to the relatives who have cared for her and that she considers their home a safe place.
The family is now involved in a custody dispute over where the child should live.
Freeman's public fundraiser says the family has been dealing with custody battles and alleges that the child has been exposed to substance abuse and domestic violence involving her parents.
Those are allegations made by the family and have not been independently verified by IF DAILY.
The viral video appears to show the moment the child was being removed while relatives watched.
The footage has prompted criticism and questions about the role of the officers seen at the scene.
However, the video by itself does not establish the full legal circumstances behind the removal or what orders were in place at the time.
That distinction matters because child custody cases can involve court orders, competing claims from parents and relatives, and information that is not publicly available.
The family says the child is being taken away from the home where she has been raised by relatives and that they are fighting to keep her connected to them.
They have now turned to social media to bring attention to the case and seek legal assistance.
A GoFundMe campaign organized by Gabrielle Freeman was created to raise money for legal fees. The fundraiser says its goal is to help the family obtain representation and present their case in court.
The fundraiser describes Mariah'Jai as a child who wants to remain with the relatives she considers home.
But there is still a major unanswered question.
What does the custody order actually say?
And what happened inside the court proceedings that led to the removal?
Those details have not been independently established in the material currently available publicly.
For now, what is clear is that the video has brought a private family custody dispute into the public spotlight.
A child is at the center of it.
And behind the viral footage is a much bigger legal battle over where she should live and who should be responsible for her care.
