SAN DIEGO — After a week of court argument and testimony in a guardianship trial, a San Diego probate judge has granted custody of Maya Millete’s three children to her sister, Maricris Drouaillet.
Maya Millete went missing from her Chula Vista home in January 2021. Her body has not been found and her husband, Larry Millete, is in custody facing murder charges.
Maya’s children, now ages 14, 13, and 7, had remained at the family’s Chula Vista home with their paternal grandparents as a nearly three-year guardianship battle continued in court. The grandparents failed to make mortgage payment on the house, which is expected to be sold by the end of the year or, in the alternative, foreclosed upon in January, according to court testimony.
Judge Ronald Frazier ruled Monday that the children must move into the Drouaillets' home in Riverside County by noon on Sunday, August 18.
There will be a six-week pause in visitation by the paternal grandparents, to give the children a chance to settle into their new home and enroll in school. The grandparents will be allowed to text the children two times per day, the judge ordered.
Maricris and her husband Richard Drouaillet are the parents of two adult children, according to court filings, and live in Moreno Valley.
Guardian ad litem, Kelly James, represented the interests of the children during the guardianship case. James told the judge she recommended Drouaillet be granted custody of the children, even though the children told James they wanted to stay with their grandparents.
“These two sides of the family cannot work together in the best interests of the children,” James said in court.
She said the grandparents, Benito and Judith Millete, had not supported the children to attend therapy or visitations with the maternal side of the family.
Judith Millete texted the oldest daughter during visitation days with the Drouaillets, telling her to “lock the doors when Richard is around,” according to testimony.
A note was found in the child’s bedroom instructing her how to get out of visitations, James recalled.
Additionally, the children were told “spy” on the maternal side of the family, by texting photos to the grandparents, it was alleged in court.
During closing arguments, Benito Millete, the grandfather, told the court he loved his grandchildren and had taken care of them for 14 years in the Chula Vista home. “We never once said a bad word about Maricris to the children,” he told the court.
Millete said the children were unhappy during visitations, and they wanted to remain with the grandparents.
Judge Frazier issued an oral ruling immediately following closing arguments, saying to the grandparents, “You have failed your grandchildren emotionally by not supporting their therapy and visitation.”
He also questioned the grandfather about what he planned to do with the children if the Chula Vista home fell into foreclosure. Benito Millete told the judge he had an offer to move into a next-door neighbor’s house with the kids.
“If you’re moving from house to house. If you’re sponging off of the neighbor’s goodwill, how can you say that is stable?” Judge Frazier questioned.
The judge said he would sign a formal, written ruling within 10 days.
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