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Tribal Court Rules Infant Taken From Baptist Hospital Be Returned To Parents

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The South Florida parents of a newborn baby that was taken out of the hospital and given to it's grandmother are breathing a sigh of relief.

Late Thursday, a hearing in tribal court was held for the custody battle between the child's parents and its grandmother.

The court ruled that baby Ingrid will be returned to her mother, Rebecca Sanders.

The newborn's parents claimed Baptist Hospital allowed the Miccosukee Police Force to go in and take the baby.

The Miccosukee Police claimed they had a federal court order.

According to Miami-Dade Police, they received a call from a Miccosukee sergeant advising they had a federal court order to take the baby and that Johnson was quote: "a dangerous individual."

Miami-Dade says its officers were only there to "keep the peace."

Johnson and Sanders held a press conference on Wednesday along with their attorney.

"Last time I saw my daughter was the last time I got to hold her and that was Saturday," Johnson said.

Sanders explained that her mother, Betty Osceola, is a high-ranking woman in the Miccosukee Tribe and that she was behind it all.

Osceola filed a tribal court order after the baby was born, demanding she get temporary custody.

"This is a woman who numerous times told Rebecca to her face 'I'll shoot that white man' but I didn't think she was evil enough to do something like this to her own daughter," Johnson said.

But Osceola's attorney says race had nothing to do with it.

In court papers Osceola claimed Johnson was abusive to Sanders' other children.

"This is not against the mother, it's simply the fact that they didn't believe the grandmother was doing an adequate job to protect her child, having a potential abuser to be around them," said Spencer West, Osceola's attorney."

After a grueling, nearly six-hour day in court, hearing from elders and a team of attorneys, the court granted custody back to Ingrid's parents.

The infant was reunited with her parents Thursday night.

Following the ruling, the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida released a statement that read, in part:

"On March 17, 2018 the Miccosukee Tribal Court, based on sworn allegations of physical and emotional abuse committed by Justin Johnson, entered an Order of Protection for the minor children of Rebecca Sanders, including the infant daughter of Justin Johnson.  Mr. Johnson is currently the subject of a criminal trespass order resulting from an assault charge at the Miccosukee Resort and Convention Center as well as a Domestic Violence Protection order involving the minor children and their mother.

"Miccosukee Social Services Department, with the cooperation and fully informed involvement of the Miami-Dade Police Department and Baptist Hospital Staff, carried out the Miccosukee Tribal Court order and took steps to act in the best interest of the minor children and protect them from any future harm."

While many still question the tribe's jurisdiction and the actions of surrounding agencies, this little family is just happy to be together again.

"We're happy that we can reunite the mother with baby Ingrid," said attorney Brandon Cohen. "All's well that ends well, hopefully, and things will start moving forward and progressing the way they should."

CBS4 tried following up with Miami-Dade Police to confirm if they were shown a court order when the baby was taken but we have not heard back.

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