Orphan in 'Love Me Forever' Plea Removed From Home

ByGILLIAN MOHNEY ABCNews logo
Thursday, July 3, 2014

The orphaned teenager who made an emotional plea last year for a family to adopt him and "love me forever" - and triggered thousands of offers from around the world - has had a devastating setback after he was removed from the home of his potential adoptive family.

Davion Only's dreams of adoption was disrupted after the 16-year-old had an altercation with a member of his prospective family, according to the Eckerd adoptive agency overseeing Only's adoption.

Only had moved from Florida to Ohio to be with the prospective family this spring for a 90 day trial period. The move was the first step of the adoptive process. According to the Tampa Bay Times, Only was with the family for weeks before being removed. The teen even wrote "I got baptized" on his Facebook page.

However, Only was removed after he had a physical altercation with a child and father, who is a minister, from his potential adoptive family. According to reports from the Tampa Bay Times that were confirmed by the Eckerd agency, Only's case manager flew to Ohio and took the teenager out of the home and back to Florida on May 30.

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The Eckerd agency did not disclose any further information about where Only was or how he was faring.

However, the agency said they still planned to find a "forever home" for Only.

"Davion is a maturing young man whose perspective on life continues to change as it does with most teenagers," read the statement. "After Davion spent time with a prospective adoptive family this spring, it was determined that the family was not the right fit for him, with that we are asking for privacy during this stage of his life."

Only won over thousands of supporters after giving an impassioned plea at a Florida church last October asking for a family to adopt him.

"I'll take anyone," Only said. "Old or young, dad or mom, black, white, purple. I don't care. And I would be really appreciative. The best I could be."

In making his plea, Only said he was looking for someone "To love me forever, I just want people to love me for who I am."

More than 10,000 people responded to Only's plea and the Eckerd agency was overwhelmed with request from people around the world offering to take in the teenager.

Only made the plea for family after searching for his own family and finding out that his birth mother had died weeks before he looked for her. He said he cried after finding out but decided he would not let his mother's past, which included drug and theft arrests, to define him.

"I just want people to know that it's hard to be a foster kid," said Only. "People sometimes don't know how hard it is and how much we try to do good."

When asked what it would mean to finally have a family, Only said, "It will make me have more courage and it will make me look brighter and feel better in general."

ABC News' Christina Ng and Alyssa Newcomb contributed to this story.

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