Melinda/Trenton Duckett News

From the Orlando Sentinel-

OCALA - A federal magistrate has recommended that the father of Trenton Duckett be dropped from a wrongful-death lawsuit accusing TV talk-show host Nancy Grace of pushing the missing boy's mother to suicide.

Magistrate Gary R. Jones concluded "there is no possibility" that Melinda Duckett's family can establish a claim in federal court against her estranged husband, Joshua Duckett. The family had sought a court-ordered accounting of the Trenton Duckett Family Charitable Trust, alleging Joshua had improperly used donations for personal use.

Jones also recommended that the lawsuit against Grace remain in federal court, siding with lawyers for Grace and the Atlanta-based Cable News Network, which airs the former prosecutor's crime program. Melinda Duckett's family had wanted the case to be heard in Circuit Court in Lake County.

The magistrate's recommendations will be submitted to U.S. District Judge William Terrell Hodges, who has final say.

Melinda Duckett, 21, considered the prime suspect in her son's disappearance, shot and killed herself at her grandparents' home in The Villages on Sept. 8, shortly before the taped interview aired. Grace's grilling of Duckett took place a day earlier.

Trenton, 2, was reported missing Aug. 27 from his bed in his mother's apartment in Leesburg.

Lawyers for Melinda Duckett's family said the magistrate's opinion will not hurt their chances to collect damages from Grace and the network for inflicting emotional distress and misappropriating the young mother's image.

Regardless of what you think about the lawsuit overall, Joshua Duckett shouldn't be involved in any wrongful death claims. Sadly I feel Melinda Duckett is responsible for both her own death, and probably that of Trenton also. I doubt the boy is alive.

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