WSVN — When her mother was battling cancer, she basically raised her two younger sisters. Then, when her mother passed away, her stepfather blocked her from seeing her sisters. Legally, he can do that, but why do it? Patrick Fraser has the story we call Family Fight.
Today, the pictures are all Stephanie De Leon has to remind her of her sisters.
Stephanie had basically raised her two younger sisters after their mother Sonia developed cancer.
Stephanie De Leon: "I was the one taking them to school, the one helping them with their homework, preparing their lunch boxes, everything. Everything was me."
Sonia could not beat cancer and before she took her last breath, she made her husband Eliezer Martinez, Stephanie’s stepfather, make her a promise.
Xiomara Pacheco: "He said, ‘Sonia, I’m going to let your sister help me with the girls and Stephanie. I promise you.’"
A few minutes later Sonia passed away. A few days later, Eliezer took Stephanie’s two sisters away and blocked her from seeing them.
Stephanie De Leon: "Those are my sisters. Those are the girls that I raised. How are you going to tell me that after years of raising them by myself, I can’t see them anymore?"
One of the sisters is a teenager who can take care of herself, but not only was Stephanie blocked from checking on her 6-year-old sister, all the aunts, uncles and a grandmother were also told to stay away.
Xiomara Pacheco: "She is 80 years old, and she is always crying about it. ‘When am I going to be able to see my little girls?’"
One day, Stephanie was told her little sister wasn’t doing well. So she went to her house to see her.
Stephanie De Leon: "Then he called the cops on me."
If Stephanie had any hopes of working out something with Eliezer Martinez to see the girls, the hopes ended that day because after that, Martinez went to court and requested a restraining order to keep Stephanie away from the girls.
She is a nursing student. If a permanent restraining order was issued, it could ruin her nursing career, and so the legal battle began.
Stephanie’s family hired attorney Simon Steckel who investigated and was ready to show the court the family was convinced the 6-year-old was being mistreated by her father.
Simon Steckel: "It’s very frightening and is predicated by information that was brought to me by witnesses and family members."
Eliezer Martinez had his own attorney.
Elbert Alfaro: "I’ve spoken to my client about that, and we have all the witnesses to rebuttal those allegations."
Back and forth in court, over several months, finally, both sides agreed to drop everything.
Simon Steckel: "The first step when you are defending somebody is to win, and we’ve won."
There is no restraining order against Stephanie, and Eliezer finally talked to me, and through his attorney, told me his reasons for not letting Stephanie see her young sister.
Elbert Alfaro: "She has put things in her head that my client is a very mean person. All these baseless accusations that my client did this, did that, and he is a good parent."
The family had hoped after the court battle Eliezer would change his mind and let someone in the family see the girls, but he didn’t.
Stephanie De Leon: "I want to make sure everything is OK with them. I want to continue my relationship with them."
Stephanie is doing well in nursing school, but when she comes home, she can’t cure what these pictures reveal… the pain of missing her sisters. Patrick Fraser, 7News.