(Reuters) – The ex-wife of R&B singer Usher is seeking custody of their two young sons after one of them was hospitalized in Atlanta following a swimming pool accident this week, court papers released on Wednesday showed.
In the documents filed in the Superior Court of Fulton County in Georgia on Tuesday, Tameka Foster, 42, requested an emergency hearing and temporary primary custody of sons, 5-year-old Usher Raymond V and his younger brother Naviyd, 4.
Usher, whose full name is Usher Raymond IV, is a 34-year-old Grammy-winning singer and coach on NBC’s TV singing competition “The Voice.” He won custody of the boys last year.
He was not at his home on Monday when Usher Raymond V’s arm got caught in a swimming pool drain when he tried to retrieve a toy.
In the court documents, Foster said Usher had failed to personally exercise physical custody of the children and “continues to excessively travel, utilizes third-party caregivers to supervise the minor children rather than personally exercising parenting time and providing supervision for the minor children.”
Attorneys for Usher and Foster were not available to comment.
The couple divorced in 2009. A hearing on the emergency motion is set for Friday afternoon.
The boys’ aunt, Rena Oden, and two other women tried to save the child but could not. Contractors working at the house jumped into the pool and rescued him.
In a 911 call released by the police, Oden is heard telling an operator about the accident.
“I need an ambulance,” she said. “My nephew was in the pool, and I couldn’t get him. I tried.”
After the contractors got to the child she added, “They’re doing CPR on him now.”
The boy is recovering in an Atlanta hospital.
Last year Foster’s older child and Usher’s stepson, 11-year-old Kile Glover, died after suffering a brain injury during a jet-ski accident
