'Little Women: Atlanta' Star Monie Quits Show After Losing Custody Battle

One of the stars of "Little Women: Atlanta" is cutting her time on the show short ... Monie's leaving the franchise after losing a custody battle over her son.

We've obtained this clip from the season 5 premiere ... and you see Monie getting super emotional after coming up short in her legal battle to move her teenage son from Houston to Atlanta. It's her last episode ever, we've learned Monie's quitting the show to move home to Texas and live closer to her 13-year-old.

Monie's starred on the show since it began ... but our sources tell us she feels like her son, Derrick Beckton Jr., needs his mom's influence and care at a critical point in his life -- so she's dropping everything to move to Houston.

As fans of the show know ... Monie's been trying to gain custody of her son for over a year, battling her ex-husband in the Texas courts. She was traveling between Atlanta and Houston for 3 years to see her son, and wanted to permanently move her kid to Atlanta to live with her and her new hubby ... but a judge slammed those doors shut.

Sounds like quitting the show was an easy decision ... we're told Monie will always put her son before her career.