Sarunas Jackson, the brother of Darius Jackson, is embroiled in a custody battle with his ex-girlfriend DomiNque Perry over their 5-year-old daughter, Zen Jackson.
via: Essence
Jackson, former Insecure star and brother of Keke Palmer’s ex Darius Jackson filed for joint custody of his daughter Zen recently. The petition, obtained by Radar Online, was filed in September and asked the courts grant him joint legal and physical custody of the five-year-old who he claims lives in California.
The mother of his child, actress Dominique Perry, asked the judge to deny the petition for several reasons with the main one being that Zen has lived in Houston since her birth. She claims Zen only goes to California when she books acting gigs there, but has maintained a home in both locations until recently.
“While pregnant, I returned to Texas to deliver Zen. Zen was born in Houston, Texas. I maintain a home in the State of Texas and Texas is where I spend the great majority of my time. And because I have always been Zen’s primary caregiver, Zen travels with me and has exclusively lived with me making her permanent home in Texas as well,” she wrote.
In the court filing, she wrote that “Despite the emotional volatility and intimidation that [Sarunas] has directed towards me,” she has been committed to “fostering a positive co-parenting relationship with [Sarunas] because I know that is in Zen’s best interest.”
She also added that she hasn’t kept the actor from being involved in his daughter’s life in any way.
The problem arose when Perry decided to move to Texas full-time because she could no longer afford to live in both places. She claimed to have shared the plan to move back to Texas in September with Jackson, who didn’t object at the time. For this reason, Perry was surprised to see the actor file a court case without telling her. She is also unable to move due to the filing.
In Perry’s response, she also alluded to the actor, 33, being an inconsistent parent. “[Sarunas’] visitation routines are dependent upon when he expresses a desire to see her. Generally, [Sarunas] requests to see Zen are sporadic. Because Sarunas’] has attained a certain level of success in his career, he generally works and has to travel even more than I do. I am concerned with whom Zen may be left with in the face of his extended absences.”
