Overview
- Willis filed detailed court documents in late May 2026 accusing her ex, Derek Richard Thomas, of a long pattern of emotional abuse she says escalated after their daughter’s April 2023 birth and left the child distressed.
- She has asked the California family court for primary physical custody, a 730 child custody evaluation—which is a psychologist or mental health expert’s court-ordered assessment of parenting and the child’s needs—and court-ordered drug testing for Thomas.
- Willis’ filings recount specific incidents she says show risk to the child, including an episode when Thomas was allegedly too impaired to watch the child and a reported fall in November 2023, and she asked the court to bar overnights and bathing with the father until the evaluation is complete.
- Thomas has formally denied the abuse and current drug-use allegations and says he is a fit parent; the parties previously had a temporary visitation agreement from August 2025 and a judge confirmed California as the proper venue in January 2026.
- The dispute will move through standard family-court fact-finding—the custody evaluation and any drug tests will shape the judge’s decision—and the outcome will determine who provides daily care for the couple’s three-year-old daughter.