We are calling for Justice for Journi and Brianna Baucum.

Journi was wrongfully removed from her mother, Brianna Baucum, in August 2019 by Tarrant County CPS despite the absence of clear and convincing evidence of abuse or neglect. 

Once court ordered Brianna completed parenting classes, complied with services, therapy, psych evaluations and went to every court hearing as well as visitation from 2019-August 2021. 

March 2021 Brianna won a mistrial in Judge Patricia Bennett’s court 360th. This should have brought Journi home instead Journi was not sent home, Judge Bennett ordered more visitation to Brianna and asked the court to come to an agreement. Instead ADA Robin Dettmer took the case back to trial and Brianna lost in August 2021- meaning her rights were terminated. CPS gave Brianna and Journi a goodbye visit where Brianna could not say goodbye. This would be the last time Brianna ever saw Journi again. 

Brianna hired two appellate attorneys. 2 filed appeals through the Supreme Court and second district court of appeals both denied. 

She  pursued every legal remedy available to her yet her constitutional rights remained violated.

In 2023 Brianna learned how to file her motions pro se and finally in March 2025 her hearing was set for another  final trial in front of judge Patricia Bennett. 
On July 22, 2025, during a hearing on Brianna’s Petition for Bill of Review, she learned for the first time that Journi had been adopted in secrecy by strangers while Brianna was still actively fighting to regain access to her child. 

Brianna’s option for reinstatement of parental rights was now void. 

All options were extinguished through procedural failures, lack of due process, and systemic injustice.

This petition is not just about one mother and one child  it is about holding the child welfare and judicial systems accountable for separating families without transparency, fairness, or humanity. Brianna continues to advocate for the truth, for reform, and for recognition that Journi was never abandoned , abused or unsafe in Brianna’s care she was taken and sold illegally. 

We demand accountability, transparency, and justice for Journi and every child impacted by unlawful family separation.