Judge Hatchett & Her Son Raise 2 Kids Following Tragic Death of Boys' Mom at 39: 'It's Just Not Fair'

• Judge Glenda Hatchett tragically lost her daughter-in-law.
• She experienced complications only hours after giving birth.
• Hatchett and her son joined forces to get justice for her kids and to prevent another situation like this from happening.

Television judge Glenda Hatchett stepped up when her grandchildren tragically lost their mother as young kids. She and her son have since fought hard to get them justice.

Glenda Hatchett is an Atlanta, Georgia, native born on May 31, 1951. She rose to prominence after appearing in a hit television show, "The Young and the Restless."

The actress starred alongside Jeanne Cooper and Shemar Moore as Judge Glenda Warren in the drama series. She later also appeared in "Black Friday."

However, Hatchett is best known for being a television judge, much like Judge Judy, Judge Jeanine Pirro, Judge Mathis, and Judge Lynn Toler, having starred in her reality show, "Judge Hatchett," which aired from 2000 to 2008. On the show, which ran for eight seasons, she uses her law skills to tend to cases involving juvenile offenders, paternity disputes, and small case claims.

Apart from her on-screen job, Hatchett also utilizes her expertise for personal matters. On April 11, 2016, her daughter-in-law, Kira Johnson, died hours after giving birth.

Hatchett's son and Kira's husband, Charles Jonson IV, recalled the events that led to that fateful day in a 2017 interview. Kira was scheduled to undergo a C-section at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

The night before the surgery, she had decided to dress up for the delivery. "We were both planning to wear sweats and be very relaxed and casual," Charles recalled. His spouse was combing her hair while looking in the mirror and suddenly decided she had to be "pretty" for their unborn son Langston.

Kira went to her closet and picked out a dress and some jewelry while deciding how to style her hair. Charles divulged the couple planned on having a big celebration for their child's arrival. However, things panned out devastatingly differently.

Following her delivery at 2:30 p.m. on April 12, Kira spent an hour with her newborn and introduced him to his older brother, Charles V Johnson, who was 19 months old.

However, Kira soon began to experience complications after giving birth. She started losing color, turned groggy, and complained about severe abdominal pain.

Her husband also noticed blood in her catheter. At that point, Hatchett was about to take her other grandchild home while Kira's mother, husband, and aunt, a nurse, remained behind.

But before leaving the hospital, Hatchett was told the doctor may have nicked Kira's bladder during the procedure, and it had to be repaired. The family was told it would take 15 minutes at most. This turned out to be untrue.

Long after her symptoms became apparent, Kira underwent surgery again, and it turned out she had massive internal bleeding caused by a lacerated bladder during her C-section. The new mom, who was 39, sadly died at 2:22 a.m.

A week later, her widowed husband took their sons and left LA for his hometown, Atlanta, to live with her mother-in-law. Moreover, Charles decided to act against the medical institution after the devastating loss to prevent the same circumstances from occurring to other families, saying:

"No one should have to feel this immense pain. It's just not fair."

In March 2022, the father of two filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He claimed the staff failed to respond to his wife's symptoms or her bleeding on time.

In turn, the hospital called Kira's untimely death "a tragedy." Charles and his mom lobbied in support of new legislation to increase reviews of maternal deaths – which records show have more than doubled since 1990. The case has since been settled.

Hatchett said she would hate seeing other kids grow up without their mothers and not experience motherly love. She also does not want to see any married man go through what her son went through or to hear other children ask about where their mother is. The lawyer further stated:

"This will be the most important case I'll ever be involved in."

A year after Kira's death, Charles divulged how he was coping. He would not have pushed through without his family and those around him who supported him. "I take it day by day," he admitted.

Charles remembered his beloved wife on Instagram in April 2021. He shared a picture cuddled up with the couple's sons on the bed and penned a heartfelt message saying five years before, he was "lost, angry, confused after experiencing gruesome pain."

He addressed fathers or families who have lost a loved one, stating he could not say things would get easier or that they would feel less pain as time went on. "However, I will promise you that you will get STRONGER EVERYDAY," Charles wrote.

As for Charles' mom, she too remembered Kira in an April 2019 social media post. The television personality shared throwback photos of the deceased with her first child, including a snap of her heavily pregnant and a third photo of her holding her second child in the delivery room.

Hatchett, who admitted to feeling guilty about leaving Kira behind in the hospital on that fateful day, said it had been three years since her passing and that not a day goes by without them missing her.

" Your light shines through us and in us everyday! You will forever be the spirit that lives through your two precious kings. We love you FOREVER," Hatchett captioned her Instagram post.

Over the years, the family matriarch has also expressed her love for her son and grandchildren. In December 2019, Hatchett, who is also a mom to son Christopher Johnson, paid tribute to her eldest son, Charles, alongside a picture of them beaming.

She commended him for being a great father, being devoted to his family, and advocating for mothers and their children. The doting mom advised her child to continue fighting for the voiceless, adding she will always be beside him while seeking justice.

In September 2020, Hatchett also paid homage to her grandsons Charles V and Langston, who celebrated their birthdays in themed celebrations. She said their late mother would be "overjoyed with her Kings."

A year later, in September 2021, the loving grandmother posted a photo of Charles and his sons wearing their school uniforms and revealed it was the boys' first day of school and that she could not be prouder of them.

Hatchett wished her eldest grandson, Charles V, a happy 7th birthday on Facebook a month later. She thanked him for brightening her days, describing him as a "talented, smart" child she loved dearly.