We hear a lot of stories about deadbeat dads who shirk the responsibility of paying child support. They do everything they can to weasel their way out of paying a court-mandated amount of money to ensure their children are being properly cared for. It’s incredibly upsetting and frustrating for those involved. But one man in Texas has been paying child support for a child that’s not his, and he didn’t even know it.
Rodrick Davis recently found out that he’s spent nearly three years supporting a child that’s not his in another state. And now, he’s calling out Texas for the mistake.
Rodrick Dwayne Davis, a resident of Dallas, spoke with Atlanta Black Star about his experience. He told the outlet that he received a letter from the Texas Attorney General’s Office of Child Support in early January 2026. It was demanding $1,400 for overdue child support payments for a child in Florida. Because he has no ties to Florida, he was confused.
The 45-year-old has two daughters, ages 18 and 23, who he has been paying back child support for over the last few years, but they live in Texas.
Davis decided to check his paystubs. When he looked at them, he found that a third child had been added to his wage garnishment in 2023. Since then, the state of Texas has taken $10,961 from his paychecks to support her.
It’s not that Davis didn’t notice that additional money had been taken out of his checks. He began making more money annually and simply assumed Texas was taking out higher amounts for his own two children.
He was very wrong. After doing some research on the Texas Attorney General’s website, he found the contact info for the mother of the girl in Florida. After reaching out via Facebook, they had a conversation and realized this was an expensive case of mistaken identity.
“This is crazy,” the girl’s mother, Shakida Harvey, told Atlanta Black Star. “Somehow, Florida and Texas linked these cases without verifying any identity or paternity information. This man has been paying diligently for my child all this time. What a mess.”
Harvey explained that her child’s father is named Rodrick Deyun Davis, which is very similar. He also has a September birthday, which likely led to the mix-up, but he lives in Mississippi.
She was confused about why her child support payments were coming from Texas but didn’t really question it. Harvey isn’t in direct contact with her daughter’s father, she said.
@imsewkodi How did this even happen?
♬ original sound – Kodi Roscelle
Harvey shared the bizarre experience in a TikTok video. “You’ve been giving your child’s father grace all this time because he’s been consistently paying,” she said in the video. “He’s actually been a deadbeat and hasn’t said nothing, not a d— thing.”
Harvey and Davis began working together to rectify the situation. Harvey reached out to the Texas attorney general, providing the office with DNA samples taken from her and her daughter years ago.
Rodrick Davis showed up to the attorney general’s office in person and was able to pull up a photo of Harvey’s child’s father. He is a man in dreadlocks. “That ain’t me!” Davis said. “I’ve always had a fade.”
Later, Davis got on Facebook Live, calling out the state of Texas for not immediately returning the thousands of dollars it took from him.
“Y’all took my money expeditiously,” he said. “Now you need to give it back. I ain’t trying to scam the system. I just want what’s mine. … How can the state of Texas get away with this?”
In his Facebook Live post, Davis also warned other men who are paying child support to check their own records. “Stay aware. You gotta watch these folks. … I got caught sleeping.”
