Grandparents want to visit their granddaughter. The father says no, and a trial is about to start in R.I. - The Boston Globe

For more reporting about the grandparents rights trial in R.I., click here.

WARWICK, R.I. — A Family Court judge is holding a trial starting Oct. 20 to determine whether the grandparents of a toddler have the right to visit her over the objections of her father, who accuses them of contributing to his wife’s death.

Shahrzad “Sherry” Naso succumbed to cancer in April 2024, at age 37. She left behind her husband, Scott Naso, and their daughter, Laila, who is now 4 years old.

Soon after Sherry died, her parents, retired East Greenwich physicians Siavash Ghoreishi and Jila Khorsand, petitioned the Family Court to force Naso to allow them to visit with Laila.

Ghoreishi and Khorsand told the Globe that they’d taken care of Laila while her mother was alive and want to remain in the little girl’s life, with unsupervised visits.

However, Naso has been trying to prevent his in-laws from visiting with Laila, saying he is concerned for her safety. He believes that their medical care led to his wife’s death last year and sickened Laila.

“This is about protecting my daughter,” he said. “This is about justice.”

Naso, who is a Middletown narcotics detective, discovered that Ghoreishi, who was also Laila’s pediatrician, had written dozens of prescriptions for Sherry Naso and Laila. Naso also found text messages that Khorsand, a chief pathologist, had written to Sherry Naso that misdiagnosed her symptoms of weakness, numbness, and bowel trouble.

Ghoreishi and Khorsand both told their daughter that her illnesses were caused by lymphedema and weaning off Prozac.

In reality, Sherry Naso’s cancer had returned, and she had a massive brain tumor.

Ghoreishi and Khorsand have denied any wrongdoing. They are asking the judge to block any evidence or testimony from being entered during the trial about their alleged medical neglect of their daughter or improperly medicating their granddaughter, according to motions filed recently by their lawyer, Michael Ahn.

“Even if those claims were true (they are not), they would not bear upon the Plaintiffs’ present relationship with Laila or their ability to safely and lovingly maintain contact with her,” Ahn wrote.

Ghoreishi closed his practice in East Greenwich, R.I., the day his daughter died. Khorsand left her job at SouthCoast Hospitals Group. Their Rhode Island medical licenses expired in the summer of 2024.

They are currently under investigation by the state Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline, after Naso filed a complaint alleging Munchausen by Proxy and accusing them of prescribing and administering “excessive amounts of unjustified prescription medications without appropriate medical documentation … [which] resulted in serious, catastrophic, and irreversible conclusions.”

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Rhode Island is also investigating dozens of insurance claims that Ghoreishi filed for care of Laila, Sherry, and Scott Naso; Naso said he had never been Ghoreishi’s patient.

Despite these concerns — as well as state law — a Family Court judge granted supervised visits between Laila and her grandparents last fall.

Rhode Island law allows people whose children have died or divorced to petition the Family Court for visitation rights with their grandchildren.

A judge is supposed to hold a hearing, or trial, and then “may” grant reasonable visitation, based on specific findings of fact, such as whether the visits are in the child’s best interests, the impact on the relationship between the child and parent, and the parent’s reasons for not wanting visits.

Both the US Supreme Court and the Rhode Island Supreme Court have upheld parents’ authority to determine their children’s best interests.

However, then-Judge Debra DiSegna granted visits without holding a hearing or documenting any findings of fact, as required by law. She did not act on subsequent motions from Naso to suspend or stop the visits and hold a hearing.

Naso said that Laila began spiraling. Her therapist and her day-care administrators also told the Globe that the visits had a detrimental effect on the little girl.

The visits paused after Naso complained to the state Department of Children, Youth, and Families earlier this year, which launched an investigation.

The investigation ended, with DCYF determining the complaint was “unfounded,” according to court records. Naso has refused to allow the visits to resume.

After DiSegna retired a few months ago, the case was assigned to Judge Felix Gill. The trial in Kent County Family Court is expected to start on Oct. 20 and last five days. It may include a dozen witnesses; Dr. Thomas Morgan, the neurologist who diagnosed Sherry with a brain tumor, and Dr. Christina Dierolf, Laila’s new pediatrician, are expected to testify during the trial.

Naso said that fighting his in-laws in court over visitation has cost him more than $300,000, including more than $210,000 in legal fees.

In a video posted on the @justiceforsherryandlaila Instagram account, Naso decried “the dysfunction of the Family Court system,” which he said “failed to protect his daughter’s well being and his rights as a parent.”

“I’m not going to give up. They messed with the wrong family,” Naso said. “I’m not going to go away until justice is done.”

Amanda Milkovits can be reached at amanda.milkovits@globe.com. Follow her @AmandaMilkovits.