Mindy McCready ordered into rehab; sons in foster care

Mindy McCready reportedly has been sent to a rehab facility to deal with alcohol and mental health issues in the wake of her boyfriend’s death.

In an emergency hearing held Wednesday, a judge ordered the country singer to be committed to rehab, People said. McCready’s 6-year-old and 9-month-old sons, Zander and Zayne, have been removed from her custody and placed in foster care.

During the hearing McCready admitted drinking too much alcohol, the magazine said. She’s previously struggled with substance-abuse issues.

The 37-year-old has been going through a rough patch lately, since the Jan. 13 death of her music-producer boyfriend David Wilson, the father of her youngest son, from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Wilson was found unresponsive at the couple’s home in Heber Springs, Ark.

“As you can imagine, the tragedy of David Wilson’s death has been devastating and crippling to Mindy and her entire family,” McCready’s rep confirmed in a statement Thursday to the New York Daily News. “We can confirm Mindy was admitted to an in-patient facility [Wednesday] evening.”

Wilson’s death was initially called a suicide after police responded to a report of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, though the medical examiner has not yet issued an official cause of death. As of last week, according to E! News, the investigation into Wilson’s death was ongoing, with toxicology and other tests still outstanding.

“He didn’t just touch my heart, he touched my soul. He was my soulmate,” McCready told NBC’s “Dateline” in a clip that aired on the “Today” show last month.

In that same interview, she was asked by NBC’s Andrea Canning if she’d killed Wilson. “Oh my God, no,” McCready replied. “Oh my God, no. He was my life. We were each other’s life.”

McCready, whom Canning said is not a suspect in the case, did not attend a Jan. 19 memorial to Wilson that was organized by his college friends.

“She might have wanted to deal with it in her own way,” a source told E! News. “I think she wanted something more private with her family in Heber Springs.”

Singer Billy McKnight, father of Zander, wants to get his son out of foster care and told WFTS-TV in Tampa, Fla., on Thursday that he has a lawyer and intends to head to Arkansas soon to pursue full custody.

“For the life of me, I can’t figure out why he’s not home right here with me, in a stable environment,” McKnight said. “Right now she’s in no position to be raising children.”

McKnight has been fighting for custody since late 2011, when McCready took Zander from Florida in violation of a custody agreement and was found days later in Arkansas, hiding with the boy in a closet. A judge later allowed Zander to stay with his mom.

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