this is "nightline." >> tonight, fighting for kayden. adorable 7-year-old caught in a railing custody battle. >> do you feel like your daughter's death was preventible? >> absolutely. >> murdered by a father with a violent past. why her mother says the system let her down. >> you weren't just taking one person. listen to me. gwyneth's goop glitch. >> a glend of eastern and western medicine. >> the glamor of gwyneth paltrow's life. >> women insert the jade egg in their lady parties -- >> why her lifestyle company famous for 24 karat sex toys is offer reg funds. first the "nightline 5." everything was so fresh in

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good evening. we begin here tonight with the adorable 7-year-old kayden mancuso, caught up in a messy custody battle, killed by a violent father given unsupervised partial custody by a family court judge. now her mother and stepfather

battling the pennsylvania courts to change what they say is a broken system. here's my "nightline" coanchor juju chang. >> kayden, look up here, give me a smile. >> reporter: fight song seemed to be kayden mancuso's personal anthem. ♪ i might only have one match but i can make an explosion ♪ >> everyone thinks their kid's the most amazing person on the planet, but this little girl was different, she was special. everyone wanted to be her best friend. >> reporter: at 7 years old that bright light faded. her vibrant life cut short in a flash. >> i still don't feel like it's real. i feel like i'm going to wake and up this awful nightmare -- but i know that i'm not. >> reporter: that nightmare, an unimaginable murder in the wake of a raging custody battle. kayden killed by her own biological father, jeffrey mancuso in a murder/suicide. now just one month after her murder, kayden's mom and

stepdad, cassie and brian sherlock, speaking out against a family court system they say failed kayden by not properly taking into account jeffrey's violent history and what kathy says were her repeated cries for help. do you feel like your daughter's death was preventible? >> absolutely, oh my god, absolutely. >> 100%. >> every single thing that could have stopped it at some point, it just didn't. >> reporter: with three beautiful kids and a new puppy, the sherlocks thought life couldn't get any better. but there was somebody else in the picture. kayden's biological father, jeffrey mancuso, whom kathy met one summer on the jersey shore. >> it was a fling? >> yeah, basically. >> reporter: they mefr married but they moved in together when kathy found out she was pregnant. >> i thought that's what i had to do, to try for kayden to give her two parents. >> reporter: despite the chill between mom and dad, sister alison says the father/daughter bond was strong. >> she wou alwaysay

my brother is 5'6". and she would say things like, my daddy's so tall. she just thought he was so tall and so strong. >> hi, i'm kayden. >> reporter: she was one of the only bright spots in his life. which his sister says was troubled since childhood. issues made worse, she says, by drinking, self-medicating, and violent outbursts. >> punching teachers, getting hit in the head with a pool stick, he had 17 staples in his head or something like that. >> how much would he drink? >> if i would go have a beer with him, i'd ob my second, he'd ob his 13th beer. it was that kind of drinking. between the drinking and the hits to the head, you know, he suffered from some brain damage which caused him to progressively get mentally ill. >> reporter: kathy soon discovered that kayden's dad had a violent streak and a criminal record, including multiple assault charges across several

states. >> and he had actually strangled me. i remember the only time i've ever felt like i was going to die was in the clutches of his arms. >> reporter: five years ago the final straw. jeffrey was charged with assault after yet another bar fight. this time he bit off part of a man's ear. >> i left, literally packed up my house in a u-haul on a monday, said i'm getting the hell out of here. >> reporter: at this point despite fearing for her own safety she never imagined jeffrey would physically harm their precious daughter, so she established an informal custody schedule with jeffrey while he gave her money for child support. >> he was loving towards her. i mean, they did a lot of things. it's probably the only good thing he had in his life. >> reporter: as jeffrey's life seemed to be unraveling, kathy was moving on. she fell in love with brian. >> we create a family with this marriage -- >> it was love at first sight for that little girl. >> you fell in love with both of them? >> yeah, it was definitely both of them. >> reporter: last year jeffrey

sued for partial custody. jeffrey represented himself in court. in front of the judge, and the sherlocks say he went on the attack. >> jeff is attacking kathy with all these accusations. it wasn't procedure. >> what was the judge's attitude in your view? >> he was just like, i'll let it. oh, that's okay. >> reporter: they say jeffrey lashed out at kathy outside of court too, calling the police on her over and over again. he even, they say, grew violent towards his own mother in front of kayden. what did she tell you about what she physically witnessed? >> that daddy was pushing mia mom, she called her, on the bed, and pretending to go like this, and grandmother was crying. >> reporter: for the first time alison admitted kayden admitted to being afraid of her dad. >> we asked her, did you think daddy was going to hurt you? she said yes. >> reporter: a little over a year into the custody battle, kayden's desperate mom filed a restraining order. but her lawyer never filed a long-term one for kayden. >> i tried everything.

the police are like, well, he's not hurting you. >> reporter: kathy gathered witnesses to are her custody case, including kayden's teacher, principal, and soccer coach, chad smith, who witnessed a confrontation between kayden's two dads after jeffrey brought kayden late to the final game. >> i sat and watched jeff get up in brian's face. and he was clearly -- looked like he was trying to provoke him into a fight. the switch went off in my mind that he needed professional help. >> he never had any character witnesses testify on his behalf. you know, not one person in his family could go in front of a judge and swear on a bible and say, he's a great father, he would never hurt his child. >> reporter: in the face of mounting evidence against jeffrey and calls for intervention, kathy feels as if the judge still didn't take her seriously. >> he felt that i was just -- >> crazy mom. >> a crazy mom. he ordered me a mental health evaluation. so at the end of that case, on the 28th, he's like, i think you both need help, i think you both need therapy. >> reporter: kathy was deemed by

the psychiatric evaluator to have anxiety. but jeffrey was diagnosed with major depressive disorder, moderate with anxious disorder, and identified with narcissistic and anti-social personality traits. >> they said he had no remorse, he had absolutely no responsibility for any of his actions. >> reporter: a custody evaluator recommended jeffrey's visits be unsupervised only if he received mental health treatment. but while the judge advised jeffrey to get help, he awarded him unsupervised visits with no mandatory mental health treatment. >> there are some who might wonder, why follow these court orders if you feel like your daughter's in that grave danger? >> there was times when i just said my biggest mistake is i should have gone to contempt or jail. >> reporter: kathy says the judge's decision would have deadly consequences. just one month ago, brian discovered the unimaginable. >> got to work.

i turned left. and she was just laying there. laying there. little girl. i knew she was dead. i mean, how could he do this? to your own 7-year-old. >> what stays with me is what her last moments were. and i wish he'd rot in hell. for what he did. >> the big story tonight, the unfolding investigation into an apparent murder/suicide -- >> a gut-wrenching outpouring of grief -- >> reporter: kayden's death rocked the community with family and friends asking why the judge allowed jeffrey unsupervised visits despite his criminal past and mental instability. >> i feel in this case it would have just taken one person to listen to me, one person to do something. >> he should have put visits, supervised. even if they were with another family member.

until he could be truly evaluated, helped, put on medicine, committed, whatever needed to be done. >> reporter: an online petition calling for the removal of the judge quickly gained popularity, with over 40,000 signatures. and yet frank cervone of support center for child advocates says family court is fraught with contentious claims, and judges are often confined by the law. >> it's not uncommon for a parent with a criminal history, including crimes of violence, to be awarded unsupervised custody. when you think of the numbers of persons in this country who have criminal records, including for violent behavior, we would have lots more kids in foster care and lots more kids not seeing their parent. >> reporter: kayden's family believes the system needs to change. this week they'll meet with the governor's office to push forward kayden's law. >> you protected his right versus hers.

essentially, his right to be a parent was more so important than her right to essentially live. >> reporter: in a statement, the judge's office says court records do not support the sherlocks' comments about the judicial proceedings or presiding judge, adding he strongly encouraged both parents to seek help, not just for their own personal benefits but for kayden's too. >> the fact that i'm never going to see her again -- i hate it. i hate it. i don't know how to go on. ♪ i might only have one match but i can make an explosion ♪ >> reporter: it's her mother's hope that kayden's, like her beloved "fight song," will have an impact. >> it says in "the fight song," i may be only one match but i caused an explosion. hopefully she causes some sort of explosion that this doesn't happen to someone else. >> give me a smile!

>> our thanks to juju for that report. coming up next, a very different kind of story. it involves a warning to those hoping to be as glamorous as gwyneth paltrow. her health and lifestyle website goop accused of selling products that make false health claims. stuffy? dl that's because your home is filled with soft surfaces that trap odors and release them back into the room. so, try febreze fabric refresher. febreze finds odors trapped in fabrics and cleans them away as it dries. use febreze every time you tidy up to keep your whole house smelling fresh air clean. fabric refresher even works for clothes you want to wear another day. make febreze part of your clean routine for whole home freshness. take us downtown, waze.

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already on vacation in belizer of goop's fragrant jade eggs. gwyneth paltrow's website

accused of making false claims about their product's health effects. here's abc's linsey davis. >> hi, everybody. welcome to my bathroom. >> reporter: in the life gwyneth paltrow hashares with us, nearl everything is beautiful. there are garden parties with cameron diaz and paul mccartney. >> so excited you're here. >> reporter: chilled chardonnay. >> cheers. >> reporter: and flings with john legend. and consistently luminous, seemingly flawless skin. >> i'm going to put on my enriching face oil which is an organic face oil -- >> reporter: these flush products and promotions part of our lifestyle company, goop. >> welcome to our third installment of in good health. >> reporter: focused holistically on women's willness, travel, and beauty. launched in 2008 as a weekly newsletter, it's now grown to a grand worth $250 million. it has a marketplace selling

beauty products, and controversially, alternatives to modern medicine. my colleague kayna whitworth interviewed paltrow earlier this year. >> when i started goop in my kitchen i harbored the secret hope that it would be a real business one day. and so it's just incredible that it's working so far. >> i think when people see given notwithstanding paltrow, they see a person that they want to emulate. >> reporter: but yesterday a gaffe for goop. they settled a lawsuit filed against the company by a consumer advocacy group called truth in advertising alleging they may unsubstantiated health claims about some of its products. among the most provocative, the jade and rose quartz vaginal eggs. according to the orange county district attorney, the complaint alleged goop advertised the jade and rose quartz vaginal eggs could balance hormones, regulate menstrual cycles, prevent uterine prolapse, and increase bladder control. >> we found increacrystals that

they could treat infertility. perfumes that said they could heal lung disease. >> there is zero factual or medical basis for any of those claims. something that could also qualify as a piece of jewelry is not typically one of the things that in gynecology we recommend inserting into the vagina for any reason. >> reporter: paltrow addressed the jade eggs on jimmy kimmel. >> so the jade egg is an ancient chinese practice where women insert the jade egg in lady part to help tone the pelvic floor. >> how does it help do that? >> i don't know, i need to start the jade egg practice. >> reporter: goop also advertised another product called the inner judge flower essence blend, claiming it could help prevent depression according to the orange county district attorney. these claims were not supported by a competent and reliable scientific evidence, according to the complaint. in settling the case, goop has agreed to pay $145,000 in civil

penalties, and for five years, the company will be restrained from claiming its goods or services have sponsorship, approval, characteristics, ingredients, uses, or benefits which they do not have, according to the court's final judgment. in a statement released to the media, goop representatives wrote, while goop believes there is an honest disagreement about these claims, the company wanted to settle this matter quickly and amicably. the settlement does not indicate any liability on goop's part. the company's also agreed to refund any customer who bought those productions. but for paltrow, she's peddling more than products, she's selling a lifestyle. >> i think that we should look at ourselves in a very holistic way. kind of like, what else is going on in the bigger picture? >> reporter: the mega star actress known best for her oscar-winning performance in "shakespeare in love." >> all ends well. >> reporter: and her return aspener potts in the "iron man" series. >> welcome to our third

installment. >> reporter: these days goop is her full-time job. the company had its third annual wellness summit this year where consumers could cruise goop's wellness products, learn from doctors and other healers. paltrow makes no efforts to hide the high-end lifestyle she's trying to market. this serum goes for $300. this trench coat almost $4,000. goop recommends this 24 karat gold vibrator, priced at $15,000. she's said the things she sells are beautiful, the life, aspirational. >> a lot of what is available in the health and wellness space is not formally studied or formally regulated. so i think what's needed is reputable medical advice from reputable and credible and credentialed medical sources. and usually those people should actually be health professionals. not celebrity du jour talented

actresses, models, sports figures, people like that. >> perhaps the best practice when taking in this new age advice is to follow the age-old adage to take some things with a grain of salt. for "nightline," i'm linsey davis in new york. next here, the tourists who had a surprise visitor on their safari in crimea. if your moderate to severeor crohn's symptoms are holding you back, and your current treatment hasn't worked well enough it may be time for a change. ask your doctor about entyvio®, the only biologic developed and approved just for uc and crohn's. entyvio® works at the site of inflammation in the gi tract, and is clinically proven to help many patients achieve both symptom relief and remission.

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general rule at a safari park is, don't get out of the car. but look at this. it happened overseas. this lion climbing into a vehicle at a park in crimea. elbowing his way into the front seat, getting behind the wheel. the guide squeezed out of his way and the tourists, of course, took pictures from the back seat. makes sense, better to get a picture for instagram than look out for your own personal well-being. thank you for watching

"nightline." we're online 24/7 on our "nightline" facebook page. thank you again for watching and good night. - ( phone ringing ) - big button, and volume-enhanced phones. get details on this state program. visit right now or call during business hours.