Kirk Franklin’s Estranged Son Kerrion Arrested While Driving the Car of Missing Woman

Kerrion Franklin, estranged son of gospel superstar Kirk Franklin, has reportedly been arrested and held without bond after he was stopped while allegedly driving a car belonging to a woman who is reported missing and presumed dead.

Yahoo News reports that according to court documents, Kerrion was arrested by the Beverly Hills Police Department around 7:30 a.m. PT on Sunday, April 10. Police also found a firearm in the car, but Kerrion maintains that the gun isn’t his and he “has no connection to the woman.” Court documents also state Kerrion is scheduled to see a judge later this week and has a permanent housing location in the jail.

Atlanta talk show host Larry Reid reported on his Larry Reid Live show that Kerrion was “wrongfully detained” and “the arrest stemmed from charges filed in Texas.” Reid spoke with Kerrion from jail, with the 34-year-old Bad Boys: Los Angeles reality star maintaining his innocence.

“I’m just keeping my mind positive. I really do aim to live a righteous lifestyle, all of this is unnecessary. I just want you guys to keep me in your prayers,” said Kerrion, according to Reid.

He also went on to say that he believes the woman in question is alive, stating he’s owned the car for over a year: “I don’t think that’s true because I’ve met the woman who sold me the car.”

As we previously reported at The Root, back in March 2021, Kerrion released a leaked video of his father using profanity-laced threatening language against his son, calling him a “bitch ass” and threatening to “break [his] fucking neck.” This led Kerrion’s mother, Shawn Ewing, to defend Kirk’s words on The Heart Beat podcast, hosted by Ericka Fusilier English.

“We’re here because some private information was leaked and Kirk kind of lost his cool,” Ewing said. “We talk about cancel culture and I was thinking, ‘I can’t leave Kirk out here by himself on this one.’”

She went on to say, “All we’ve tried to do as parents is work through the issue, get our son to a point of being a productive citizen in society as well as having a good life. But things kind of didn’t go that way, and that’s okay because families go through things. But we don’t get to use a part of an audio and not understand the true history of counseling, therapy, godly counsel, holding Kerrion responsible, holding Kirk responsible, holding myself responsible.”

At the time, Kirk Franklin and his wife Tammy went on The Tamron Hall Show to discuss the controversy.

“As Kerrion became a grown man, his disrespect became more aggressive,” Franklin said. “As a family, we’ve been trying to rally for years to try and help. And now that he’s about to be 33, as a grown man, the relationship at times can become very agitated. But I’m not going to stop trying to help. He’s my son.”

Kirk Franklin has not commented on his son’s arrest, and Kerrion addressed the subject on Reid’s show explaining, “My father is not in my life. Period.”