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Former professional boxer Tommy Hearns has been put under a guardianship and conservatorship after his sons said he was kidnapped by several family members in February, a claim the family members deny.
Ronald Hearns and Thomas Hearns Jr. wrote in a petition for guardianship Feb. 18 in Oakland County Probate Court that their father's ex-girlfriend and younger sister "lured" their father out of his friend's house Feb. 10 by saying they were taking him out to dinner, but he never returned home. They later wrote in the same filing that their father was kidnapped by his daughter and her mother.
At the point when the two sons filed the petition, they hadn't had contact with their father, who is now 67, for more than a week, they wrote, and they were seeking guardianship in an attempt to find him. Hearns had been living with his daughter, Natasha Barnes, during the period when Ronald and Thomas Jr. said he was missing.
According to a report from guardian ad litem Michael Dean, who was appointed to evaluate the case, Hearns is now living with Ronald Hearns, his oldest child, in Clinton Township.
Dean wrote that due to mental deficiency, Hearns Sr. is unable to manage his property and business affairs effectively. He said Hearns Sr. agrees with the guardianship and conservatorship petitions.
Barnes denied kidnapping her father, but Ronald Hearns was awarded guardianship and conservatorship on March 11 by Oakland County Probate Judge Daniel O'Brien. The decision means O'Brien has deemed Hearns Sr. to be incapacitated enough that he cannot make his own decisions regarding his personal affairs, medical care or finances.
The guardianship and conservatorship give decision-making authority to Ronald Hearns, who will have to report to the court about his father's well-being and the status of his finances.
Wolfgang Mueller, Ronald Hearns’ attorney, said he will be working with the family to figure out what Hearns Sr.’s possible debts or income may be to figure out where his money has been going.
"I'm responsible for making sure the money going out goes where it's supposed to and the money coming in is Tommy’s money," Mueller said. "For the first time, everything is above the board."
The case reveals deep divisions in the family of Hearns Sr., a Detroit sports legend who fought out of the famous Kronk Gym under Emanuel Steward from 1977-2006, and was the first boxer in history to win world titles in five different weight classes.
O'Brien ruled Feb. 23 that Hearns Sr. had been kidnapped and held against his will after four women allegedly involved in the kidnapping — Louise Hearns, Hearns Sr.'s younger sister; Natasha Barnes, Hearns' Sr.'s daughter; Barnes' mother Kimberly Thompson; and Tina Lindsay, a private investigator and advocate against unnecessary guardianships working with Barnes' family — wouldn’t tell him where Hearns Sr. was, Mueller said.
When Thompson gave O’Brien an address, O’Brien sent state authorities to investigate and Hearns Sr. was not there, Mueller said.
The judge ordered the four women to appear in his courtroom the next day to explain why they shouldn't be held in contempt of court for lying, but he ultimately dismissed the contempt issue March 11 after the women appeared in court and spoke to him, said Gregory Rohl, the attorney of Barnes and Louise Hearns.
Rohl denies there was any kind of kidnapping of the boxing legend. No charges have been filed, nor are they expected to be filed. He did not answer additional questions.
"Everything she has done has been to help Tommy," Rohl wrote in an email, speaking of Louise Hearns.
Louise Hearns, the boxer's younger sister, said she hired a private investigator to find her brother after she had not been able to contact him for four or five months. When she finally got a phone number for him, she called him, and he asked her to come get him.
"He was sent to (a friend's) house with $300, a duffle bag and his belts. This is a seven-time hall of famer, world champion we’re talking about. Who does that?" Louise said. "You took everything he has except his dignity."
Louise Hearns, Barnes, Lindsay and Barnes' son went to pick Hearns Sr. up on Feb. 10, from the house where he had been living with a friend. Barnes said her mother, the ex-girlfriend the brothers referenced in the petition, was not with them.
Both Louise and Barnes said they were accompanied by an escort from Northville police, though Northville and Northville Township police said they had no record of this.
“Two police officers in two separate vehicles were standing by where we all watched dad come out of the house, willingly on his own terms, and get into my vehicle,” Barnes said.
Novi Police Lt. Kevin Gilmore said Louise Hearns called them looking for her brother. She wanted police to go to the friend's house to be on standby in case there were any issues, but when police arrived, no one was there, Gilmore said.
The friend Hearns Sr. had been with Feb. 10 told Dean, the guardian ad litem, that Louise Hearns, the boxer's sister, and his ex-girlfriend arrived unannounced to take him out to dinner, according to a report Dean filed with the court.
The friend said his phone was cut off as he spoke to Hearns Jr. from the restaurant and when the son arrived, his father was gone. Hearns Jr. couldn't be reached for comment, as was his attorney Michael Smith.
Livonia police were called while the group was out to eat at BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse, and the friend Hearns Sr. was living with walked in and tried to pull Hearns Sr. out of the restaurant, Barnes and Louise Hearns said. Louise Hearns said she grabbed her brother's other arm and both women tugged at his arms. Hearns Sr. eventually yelled at them to stop.
A short time later, Hearns Jr. called Novi police to report that family had taken Hearns Sr. out to eat without permission, Gilmore said. Police ultimately called Adult Protective Services, as Gilmore said they do whenever there is some sort of dispute over caring for an elderly person who may have mental or cognitive needs.
Adult Protective Services contacted the Michigan Attorney General's Office for investigation of possible financial abuse, according to court records. The AG's office did not respond for comment.
Between Feb. 10 and Feb. 23, Hearns Sr. lived with Barnes, “living our best daddy-daughter life,” Barnes said. He spent time with his grandchildren and she said she took him to the doctor to make sure he was OK.
“I had no idea this (the petition for guardianship) was going on,” Barnes said. “It’s not like I just appeared out of nowhere. My family knows me, my siblings know me. It could’ve been a conversation.”
Barnes said while her father is getting older and has some memory issues, he’s not “totally out of his mind.”
“You can still have conversations with him, he knows what’s going on, where he’s at, he can say yes or no to what he wants to do, he can still take care of his daily needs,” Barnes said.
The Hearns brothers wrote in the petition that Barnes needed DNA testing to confirm she was Hearns Sr.’s child. Barnes said she has no idea where that came from, that he has been in her life since birth and his paternity was never questioned.
Louise Hearns, too, said her brother is "there" in the moment when he's having a conversation, but he may not remember the conversation several hours later.
"I don’t think he needs to be in a guardianship. I don’t think he needs to be in a conservatorship," Louise Hearns said. "I think he needs to be with a family member who loves and cares about him genuinely."
Ronald Hearns wrote in his petition seeking a conservatorship of his father that the boxer is "unable to manage property and financial affairs effectively due to diagnosed dementia and cognitive impairment. There is a documented risk of financial exploitation and interference by third parties. Appointment of a conservatorship is necessary to protect assets and ensure proper management."
Ronald Hearns declined to comment, but his attorney, Mueller, said Hearns Sr. is cognizant and can hold a conversation, but has some obvious memory issues. He said he does not believe Hearns Sr. was aware prior to the court hearings that his money was being diverted away from him.
Hearns Jr. and Ronald Hearns wrote in their petition for guardianship that Barnes, Louise Hearns and Barnes' mother, Kimberly Thompson, have exploited Hearns Sr. on social media for views and compensation and that Thompson forwarded his mail to her and she is receiving all checks and official documentation. Mueller said Hearns Sr.’s mail was being diverted to Thompson's Detroit address.
Barnes, Louise and Thompson denied this in conversations with The News.
"Follow the money and you will find that I have received no checks. No fake accounts," Thompson wrote in an email. "I was not asking for his mail to come to my home or process servers trying to serve me and Ally Financial calling my landline looking for Thomas Charles (Hearns Jr.)."
Dean, the guardian ad litem, wrote in a report filed with the court Monday that various family members set up GoFundMe accounts in Hearns Sr.'s name, his social security payments were rerouted and various financial accounts and real property may have been retitled.
Dean said Louise Hearns stated on social media she now has “care of her brother and he is now safe” and anyone wanting to do promotions should contact her. When Adult Protective Services went to her home, she allegedly refused to let them in and said she didn't have her brother at her home. Hearns Sr. was staying with Barnes at that time.
Two GoFundMe pages appear to exist in Hearns Sr.'s name, both started by Louise Hearns on Feb. 21 and Feb. 24. The Feb. 21 page is titled "support for Tommy Hearns after fraud." The description says the boxer has been defrauded out of his home and has lost everything. She wrote he is homeless, penniless and broken. The page raised $50 but had a $24,000 goal.
The second page, which said it was created to help Hearns Sr. rebuild his life, raised nearly $600 and had a $500,000 goal.
Louise said she started the fundraising pages because she saw how her brother was broke and had no way of supporting himself.
"They're mad because I set up the GoFundMe and they didn’t," Louise Hearns told The News in an interview. "I’m going to help Tommy. They know the GoFundMe is going to go straight to Tommy."
Lindsay, the advocate working with Barnes, alleged Hearns Jr. lived a “lavish lifestyle” with his father’s money and lost a lot of it. Hearns Jr. was unable to be reached for comment.
An Adult Protective Services referral was made in Spring 2025 for possible financial abuse of Hearns Sr. by Hearns Jr., but Hearns Jr. refused to participate in the investigation, and it was closed, Dean wrote in his report. Thompson said she initiated this investigation because Hearns Jr. lived with his father in a house with black mold and no heat.
Both Barnes and Louise alleged that Hearns Jr. and Ronald mismanaged their father's money, leaving him with next to nothing. Barnes provided The News with bank statements from Chase Bank, showing that the same day Hearns Sr.'s social security check was deposited in February, almost the entire $2,200 check was sent via Zelle out of the account. Louise Hearns said when she asked her brother about the transfer, he said he did not have a Zelle account and did not know what it was.
Hearns Sr. has had money issues for more than a decade. His Southfield house, where he lived with his son Hearns Jr., was foreclosed on in 2012, 2014 and 2024 before it was ultimately seized by the Oakland County Treasurer in March 2024 for unpaid property taxes. He has been delinquent on taxes on and off since 2008
[email protected]
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Boxer Tommy Hearns under guardianship after alleged exploitation
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Ronald Hearns and Thomas Hearns Jr. wrote in a petition for guardianship Feb. 18 in Oakland County Probate Court that their father's ex-girlfriend and younger sister "lured" their father out of his friend's house Feb. 10 by saying they were taking him out to dinner, but he never returned home. They later wrote in the same filing that their father was kidnapped by his daughter and her mother.
At the point when the two sons filed the petition, they hadn't had contact with their father, who is now 67, for more than a week, they wrote, and they were seeking guardianship in an attempt to find him. Hearns had been living with his daughter, Natasha Barnes, during the period when Ronald and Thomas Jr. said he was missing.
According to a report from guardian ad litem Michael Dean, who was appointed to evaluate the case, Hearns is now living with Ronald Hearns, his oldest child, in Clinton Township.
Dean wrote that due to mental deficiency, Hearns Sr. is unable to manage his property and business affairs effectively. He said Hearns Sr. agrees with the guardianship and conservatorship petitions.
Barnes denied kidnapping her father, but Ronald Hearns was awarded guardianship and conservatorship on March 11 by Oakland County Probate Judge Daniel O'Brien. The decision means O'Brien has deemed Hearns Sr. to be incapacitated enough that he cannot make his own decisions regarding his personal affairs, medical care or finances.
The guardianship and conservatorship give decision-making authority to Ronald Hearns, who will have to report to the court about his father's well-being and the status of his finances.
Wolfgang Mueller, Ronald Hearns’ attorney, said he will be working with the family to figure out what Hearns Sr.’s possible debts or income may be to figure out where his money has been going.
"I'm responsible for making sure the money going out goes where it's supposed to and the money coming in is Tommy’s money," Mueller said. "For the first time, everything is above the board."
Deep divisions within the Hearns family
The case reveals deep divisions in the family of Hearns Sr., a Detroit sports legend who fought out of the famous Kronk Gym under Emanuel Steward from 1977-2006, and was the first boxer in history to win world titles in five different weight classes.
O'Brien ruled Feb. 23 that Hearns Sr. had been kidnapped and held against his will after four women allegedly involved in the kidnapping — Louise Hearns, Hearns Sr.'s younger sister; Natasha Barnes, Hearns' Sr.'s daughter; Barnes' mother Kimberly Thompson; and Tina Lindsay, a private investigator and advocate against unnecessary guardianships working with Barnes' family — wouldn’t tell him where Hearns Sr. was, Mueller said.
When Thompson gave O’Brien an address, O’Brien sent state authorities to investigate and Hearns Sr. was not there, Mueller said.
The judge ordered the four women to appear in his courtroom the next day to explain why they shouldn't be held in contempt of court for lying, but he ultimately dismissed the contempt issue March 11 after the women appeared in court and spoke to him, said Gregory Rohl, the attorney of Barnes and Louise Hearns.
Rohl denies there was any kind of kidnapping of the boxing legend. No charges have been filed, nor are they expected to be filed. He did not answer additional questions.
"Everything she has done has been to help Tommy," Rohl wrote in an email, speaking of Louise Hearns.
The day of the alleged kidnapping
Louise Hearns, the boxer's younger sister, said she hired a private investigator to find her brother after she had not been able to contact him for four or five months. When she finally got a phone number for him, she called him, and he asked her to come get him.
"He was sent to (a friend's) house with $300, a duffle bag and his belts. This is a seven-time hall of famer, world champion we’re talking about. Who does that?" Louise said. "You took everything he has except his dignity."
Louise Hearns, Barnes, Lindsay and Barnes' son went to pick Hearns Sr. up on Feb. 10, from the house where he had been living with a friend. Barnes said her mother, the ex-girlfriend the brothers referenced in the petition, was not with them.
Both Louise and Barnes said they were accompanied by an escort from Northville police, though Northville and Northville Township police said they had no record of this.
“Two police officers in two separate vehicles were standing by where we all watched dad come out of the house, willingly on his own terms, and get into my vehicle,” Barnes said.
Novi Police Lt. Kevin Gilmore said Louise Hearns called them looking for her brother. She wanted police to go to the friend's house to be on standby in case there were any issues, but when police arrived, no one was there, Gilmore said.
Kidnapping or dinner visit?
The friend Hearns Sr. had been with Feb. 10 told Dean, the guardian ad litem, that Louise Hearns, the boxer's sister, and his ex-girlfriend arrived unannounced to take him out to dinner, according to a report Dean filed with the court.
The friend said his phone was cut off as he spoke to Hearns Jr. from the restaurant and when the son arrived, his father was gone. Hearns Jr. couldn't be reached for comment, as was his attorney Michael Smith.
Livonia police were called while the group was out to eat at BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse, and the friend Hearns Sr. was living with walked in and tried to pull Hearns Sr. out of the restaurant, Barnes and Louise Hearns said. Louise Hearns said she grabbed her brother's other arm and both women tugged at his arms. Hearns Sr. eventually yelled at them to stop.
A short time later, Hearns Jr. called Novi police to report that family had taken Hearns Sr. out to eat without permission, Gilmore said. Police ultimately called Adult Protective Services, as Gilmore said they do whenever there is some sort of dispute over caring for an elderly person who may have mental or cognitive needs.
Adult Protective Services contacted the Michigan Attorney General's Office for investigation of possible financial abuse, according to court records. The AG's office did not respond for comment.
Between Feb. 10 and Feb. 23, Hearns Sr. lived with Barnes, “living our best daddy-daughter life,” Barnes said. He spent time with his grandchildren and she said she took him to the doctor to make sure he was OK.
“I had no idea this (the petition for guardianship) was going on,” Barnes said. “It’s not like I just appeared out of nowhere. My family knows me, my siblings know me. It could’ve been a conversation.”
Family alleges Hearns Sr. does not need a guardian
Barnes said while her father is getting older and has some memory issues, he’s not “totally out of his mind.”
“You can still have conversations with him, he knows what’s going on, where he’s at, he can say yes or no to what he wants to do, he can still take care of his daily needs,” Barnes said.
The Hearns brothers wrote in the petition that Barnes needed DNA testing to confirm she was Hearns Sr.’s child. Barnes said she has no idea where that came from, that he has been in her life since birth and his paternity was never questioned.
Louise Hearns, too, said her brother is "there" in the moment when he's having a conversation, but he may not remember the conversation several hours later.
"I don’t think he needs to be in a guardianship. I don’t think he needs to be in a conservatorship," Louise Hearns said. "I think he needs to be with a family member who loves and cares about him genuinely."
Ronald Hearns wrote in his petition seeking a conservatorship of his father that the boxer is "unable to manage property and financial affairs effectively due to diagnosed dementia and cognitive impairment. There is a documented risk of financial exploitation and interference by third parties. Appointment of a conservatorship is necessary to protect assets and ensure proper management."
Ronald Hearns declined to comment, but his attorney, Mueller, said Hearns Sr. is cognizant and can hold a conversation, but has some obvious memory issues. He said he does not believe Hearns Sr. was aware prior to the court hearings that his money was being diverted away from him.
Both sides of family allege financial exploitation of boxer
Hearns Jr. and Ronald Hearns wrote in their petition for guardianship that Barnes, Louise Hearns and Barnes' mother, Kimberly Thompson, have exploited Hearns Sr. on social media for views and compensation and that Thompson forwarded his mail to her and she is receiving all checks and official documentation. Mueller said Hearns Sr.’s mail was being diverted to Thompson's Detroit address.
Barnes, Louise and Thompson denied this in conversations with The News.
"Follow the money and you will find that I have received no checks. No fake accounts," Thompson wrote in an email. "I was not asking for his mail to come to my home or process servers trying to serve me and Ally Financial calling my landline looking for Thomas Charles (Hearns Jr.)."
Dean, the guardian ad litem, wrote in a report filed with the court Monday that various family members set up GoFundMe accounts in Hearns Sr.'s name, his social security payments were rerouted and various financial accounts and real property may have been retitled.
Dean said Louise Hearns stated on social media she now has “care of her brother and he is now safe” and anyone wanting to do promotions should contact her. When Adult Protective Services went to her home, she allegedly refused to let them in and said she didn't have her brother at her home. Hearns Sr. was staying with Barnes at that time.
Two GoFundMe pages appear to exist in Hearns Sr.'s name, both started by Louise Hearns on Feb. 21 and Feb. 24. The Feb. 21 page is titled "support for Tommy Hearns after fraud." The description says the boxer has been defrauded out of his home and has lost everything. She wrote he is homeless, penniless and broken. The page raised $50 but had a $24,000 goal.
The second page, which said it was created to help Hearns Sr. rebuild his life, raised nearly $600 and had a $500,000 goal.
Louise said she started the fundraising pages because she saw how her brother was broke and had no way of supporting himself.
"They're mad because I set up the GoFundMe and they didn’t," Louise Hearns told The News in an interview. "I’m going to help Tommy. They know the GoFundMe is going to go straight to Tommy."
Lindsay, the advocate working with Barnes, alleged Hearns Jr. lived a “lavish lifestyle” with his father’s money and lost a lot of it. Hearns Jr. was unable to be reached for comment.
An Adult Protective Services referral was made in Spring 2025 for possible financial abuse of Hearns Sr. by Hearns Jr., but Hearns Jr. refused to participate in the investigation, and it was closed, Dean wrote in his report. Thompson said she initiated this investigation because Hearns Jr. lived with his father in a house with black mold and no heat.
Both Barnes and Louise alleged that Hearns Jr. and Ronald mismanaged their father's money, leaving him with next to nothing. Barnes provided The News with bank statements from Chase Bank, showing that the same day Hearns Sr.'s social security check was deposited in February, almost the entire $2,200 check was sent via Zelle out of the account. Louise Hearns said when she asked her brother about the transfer, he said he did not have a Zelle account and did not know what it was.
Hearns Sr. has had money issues for more than a decade. His Southfield house, where he lived with his son Hearns Jr., was foreclosed on in 2012, 2014 and 2024 before it was ultimately seized by the Oakland County Treasurer in March 2024 for unpaid property taxes. He has been delinquent on taxes on and off since 2008
[email protected]
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Boxer Tommy Hearns under guardianship after alleged exploitation
Continue reading...
