One Year After Court Order, Ryder Belisle’s Mother Urges Ohio to Pass Stalled Protections

An Ohio mother is marking a painful anniversary by asking state lawmakers to act. Taci Belisle says Ohio still lacks protections that could have helped her son, Ryder. On Nov. 19, 2025, a Summit County court order removed the 12-year-old from her care. Ryder died 32 days later. Belisle is now calling for passage of several stalled bills. She wants protections for domestic violence survivors, protective parents and children with complex medical needs. A Rare Disease and a Full-Time Caregiver Ryder was diagnosed with Sanfilippo syndrome type B on April 12, 2016. This rare genetic disease gets worse over time. Ryder eventually became nonverbal and nonmobile. He used a wheelchair and depended on a feeding tube. Belisle was his full-time caregiver and medical advocate. She says she moved to Ohio with her children in 2025. According to Belisle, she was leaving what she describes as domestic violence by her ex-husband, Ryder’s father. The parents’ family case is filed in Skagit County, Washington. Her 2025 petitions there for domestic violence protection orders were denied. The Court Order On Nov. 19, 2025, Summit County Juvenile Court Judge Linda Tucci Teodosio granted the father’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The order returned the children to his physical custody pending further orders from the Washington court. Law enforcement was directed to assist. The hearing went forward even though there was a request to postpone it because Ryder had recently had seizures. That request was denied. Ryder was being treated in the hospital that evening. Police escorted Belisle from his bedside, according to the release. Ryder was then taken to Washington. On Dec. 16, 2025, he went into cardiac arrest at home. He was taken to Skagit Valley Hospital and later to Seattle Children’s Hospital. Ryder died there on Dec. 21 after life-sustaining treatment was withdrawn. “This was a medically fragile child whose care depended on specialized knowledge and an established treatment routine,” Belisle said. “A child’s disability should never become an inconvenience to a legal proceeding.” She said her son “was not a case number” and “not a battle to be won.” “He was my beloved son,” she said. Aisha’s Law Remains Stalled Belisle points to Aisha’s Law as one protection Ohio still lacks. The bill is named for Aisha Fraser, a Shaker Heights teacher. Her ex-husband, a former judge and state lawmaker, killed her in 2018. The proposal would require police to screen domestic violence victims using an evidence-based lethality assessment. High-risk victims would be referred to advocates. A judge or magistrate would also be available around the clock to take protection order petitions. The Ohio House passed the bill in 2020 and again in October 2021. Each time, it stalled in the Senate. Lawmakers reintroduced it as House Bill 486 in 2024, but it never left committee. A strangulation felony from earlier versions became law separately in 2023. The lethality screening and 24-hour access provisions have not. Ohio Has Not Adopted Kayden’s Law In 2022, Congress encouraged states to adopt child safety reforms through the Keeping Children Safe from Family Violence Act. That measure is known as Kayden’s Law. Colorado, Utah, Pennsylvania and California are among the states that have adopted those reforms. Ohio has not. Ohio’s main family court reform bill is Senate Bill 174. It passed the Senate in November 2025. The bill went to a House committee on Nov. 19, 2025, the same day Ryder was ordered out of his mother’s care. It has not received a House floor vote. The release also says Ohio Supreme Court materials note that coercive control is not defined in the Ohio Revised Code. “I do this because I love him,” Belisle said. “I do this because his life mattered. And I do this because I never want another mother to experience this kind of loss without answers.” What Belisle Wants Lawmakers to Do Belisle is asking Ohio to take seven steps: Pass Aisha’s Law. Require lethality assessments and make protection orders available 24 hours a day. Adopt Kayden’s Law protections. Courts would give real weight to abuse evidence in custody cases. Judges, magistrates, guardians ad litem and evaluators would be trained on domestic violence, coercive control and child trauma. Stop protection orders and contempt from being used against survivors. Parents who take good-faith steps to keep a child safe would be protected. Courts would screen for retaliatory cross-petitions and give every survivor a meaningful hearing before denying a petition. Protect medically fragile children. Before custody of a child with complex medical needs changes, courts would hear from treating doctors. A written medical transition plan would be required. No child would leave a hospital bed without a safe discharge plan. Use interstate safeguards. When abuse is alleged, Ohio courts would use emergency authority under the UCCJEA (R.C. 3127.18). They would also speak directly with the other state’s