State tells Detroit man: Pay for child that isn't yours or go to jail!

DETROIT (WXYZ) - UPDATE: Detroit man turns himself in after not paying child support for a child that is not his

Carnell Alexander is a wanted man. The reason? He refuses to pay child support for a child that is proven to not be his. As a result, a warrant has been issued for his arrest.

7 Action News told you about Carnell Alexander in October. He said he was looking for help clearing up a terrible mistake.

Alexander says he learned about the paternity case against him during a traffic stop in Detroit in the early 90s. The officer told him he is a deadbeat dad, there was a warrant out for his arrest.

“I knew I didn’t have a child, so I was kind of blown back,” said Alexander during an interview in October.

He would later learn this happened because his ex needed help caring for her kids.

“I put him down as father to get assistance,” she told 7 Action News.

She didn’t realize that would start a paternity case. The state would want to get reimbursement for welfare benefits from the child’s dad.

A process server turned in paperwork to the court saying Carnell had been notified of the paternity hearing. The paperwork said the notification happened at a house in Highland Park. Because on paper he had been given notice, when he didn’t show up at court, he was legally listed as father by default.

7 Action News found out there must have been some mistake. On the day Carnell was allegedly served at a house in Highland Park, the Michigan Department of Corrections says he was actually incarcerated for a crime he committed as a young man. 

He could not have possibly been served as recorded. It is unknown whether this was fraud or a case of mistaken identity.

By the time Carnell learned about the paternity case, judges told him it was too late. Legally he owes the state more than $30 thousand for assistance paid to care for a child.

“A child that I did not father, that I did not biologically create, that I was not involved in raising,” said Carnell. “It is not fair.”

DNA tests prove the child is not his. The real father was in the child’s life, but the state never pursued him for payment as far as Carnell and the child’s mother know. 

Carnell refuses to pay. As a result, the warrant was issued for his arrest. He plans to turn himself in on Friday.

“I will go to jail if I have to because I am tired of the mishandling of the case,” said Carnell.

“It’s not right,” said Murray Davis of the National Family Justice Association.

Davis says there are thousands of men in Carnell Alexander’s shoes because Michigan doesn’t have paternity fraud laws that protect men. 

When there is evidence a woman mistakenly or purposefully declares the wrong man as husband, it doesn’t necessarily impact paternity obligations.

Davis did a study a few years back that looked at how many of the men who are declared fathers by default in Wayne County are indeed the father. He says DNA tests found 79% of the time they are not.

“It is so easy to say anyone is the father while applying for assistance,” said Davis.

Attorney Cherika Harris has volunteered to try to help Carnell Alexander. She said she will ask a judge to lift the arrest warrant when he turns himself in Friday.