TEEN Mom alum Jenelle Evans and her estranged husband, David Eason, have been preparing to face each other in court for their child custody case over their daughter, Ensley – and Jenelle allegedly might have a leg up.
The U.S. Sun can exclusively reveal that Jenelle, 32, and David, 35, are getting closer to going head-to-head in the courtroom as the court has made the custody of their only child, Ensley, 7, the first priority in their divorce battle.
After the exes’ hearing on Thursday, April 25, in a North Carolina courtroom regarding the domestic violence restraining order Jenelle requested for herself and the kids against David, a source close to the case told The U.S. Sun that the child custody hearing should happen in the not-so-distant future.
“In North Carolina, whenever someone is served with a civil case, we have 30 days to respond. I believe those 30 days just about ran [out]. So the time to answer or respond has expired,” the insider said about Jenelle’s filing for full custody of Ensley.
“The courts will then start putting her on the calendar, and so typically, one of the first things that they’ll do, and based on what she has filed, is she will work to set up temporary child custody. So that’ll probably be the first step.”
They also revealed that aside from the protective order, Jenelle hasn’t filed anything additional against David in the case, despite another source close to the star claiming she has a “smoking gun” of dirt against him that she plans to use in court.
Read More on Jenelle Evans
“The only other thing that has been filed was the petition for a protective order. Nothing else had been filed in the divorce case,” assured the insider before noting that they’re waiting for the next steps.
“That’s pretty typical for these kinds of situations. One side will file it, and then it’s kind of a waiting game right until the time the other side responds.”
The source also alluded to another alleged incident between Jenelle and David, unknown to the public, that occurred outside their hometown, leading to the ex-reality star filing the civil restraining order case outside of the county in which she resides.
Last week’s hearing was the second attempt in Jenelle’s legal fight against David pertaining to her restraining order.
Following their first court hearing earlier this month, a source told The U.S. Sun that David requested a continuance, which the judge granted.
David made the same request during their second time in court, with the source claiming it was so he could bide more time to obtain an attorney.
JENELLE’S PROTECTIVE ORDER
The U.S. Sun previously reported that a source alleged that “David was served with Jenelle’s complaint for separation, as well as a complaint for a domestic violence protective order,” shortly after their separation.
They also claimed that Jenelle had previously asked for an emergency protective order but was denied, so she asked for a hearing to be granted a civil no-contact order.
The source said that Jenelle’s initial request was denied, in part, because she already had an order of protection against David for her teenage son, Jace, so another one would “not be considered emergent.”
David was accused of allegedly assaulting Jace, 14 – Jenelle’s oldest child with her ex, Andrew Lewis – in September and is now facing felony charges.
Jenelle and David’s relationship timeline
The tumultuous pair have had their fair share of falling outs
Teen Mom 2 star Jenelle Evans met David Eason on Tinder in September of 2015.
Jenelle got pregnant in April 2016 and announced she suffered a miscarriage, then she became pregnant again with her and David’s daughter, Ensley, a few months later.
The pair got engaged in February 2017 and tied the knot that September.
A year after saying “I do,” Jenelle called 911 and accused David of assaulting her outside their home. She would later call the incident “a drunk and dramatic misunderstanding” and said she was “fine.”
In around May 2019, David shot and killed their French bulldog puppy named Nugget. Weeks after the incident, CPS took custody of all of the children, including their daughter, Ensley, Jenelle’s son, Kaiser, and David’s daughter, Maryssa.
When her children were returned to her, Jenelle fled to Tennessee with Kaiser and Ensley and filed an order of protection against David in October. She ultimately dropped the case and went back to him.
In the following years, the couple sparked split rumors as the pair would often unfollow each other on social media and update their Facebook relationship statuses.
As The U.S. Sun exclusively reported, on February 23, 2024, Jenelle filed for separation from David. She stated that she filed the documents with “the intent that the separation be permanent” and claimed that Eason had “exhibited concerning and at times disturbing behavior towards [her]” throughout their marriage.
The former TV star was ordered to stay away from Jace and has reportedly been living on the pair’s boat, separate from the rest of the family, whom he’s lived with throughout his and Jenelle’s six years of marriage.
Jenelle is also the mother of a 9-year-old son, Kaiser, with her ex-husband, Nathan Griffith, of whom she has primary custody.
The U.S. Sun exclusively reported in March that Jenelle packed up David’s stuff despite previously defending him on social media following Jace’s allegations that he abused the teen.
However, she recently welcomed him back home for a short time, allegedly so he could “protect the family” after a break-in.
Jenelle’s manager claimed to The U.S. Sun that authorities allowed David to return home, given an alleged attempted break-in in February.
THE FINAL STRAW
The brief reunion allegedly gave Jenelle more clarity over her relationship with David, as her manager revealed, “During those few days together, Jenelle expressed to me that David had said a few things that caused her to make her final decision and submit the documents for separation.”
At the time, another source revealed to The U.S. Sun that Jenelle’s breaking point allegedly was when David shared an Instagram Story post of him taking shots with a woman in the background during the first couple of weeks that the ex-TV star was out of the house.
Jenelle and David were trying to figure things out after CPS dismissed the case against them, and Jace rejoined the family after being under his grandmother Barbara’s care.
JENELLE & DAVID’S ALLEGATIONS
Their split has since gotten even uglier, with each throwing jabs at each other online and in court.
In court papers exclusively obtained by The U.S. Sun regarding Jenelle’s protective order, the ex-MTV star claimed that David “told her to kill herself” and called her children homophobic slurs.
Jenelle also alleged that, during an argument at their home in February, her ex “ran over a puppy and killed it” while their daughter “witnessed the dog dying.”
BROKEN FAMILY
Jenelle’s attorney revealed to The U.S. Sun that David hadn’t “tried to get in touch” with Ensley since their separation as of early April.
“As far as David seeing Ensley, absent a court order, both parents have 100% rights to their child all the time without that court order,” the lawyer explained.
“To my knowledge, David has not attempted to contact Ensley, or tried to contact her through our offices, and he has my contact information.”
Jenelle and David are expected to appear in court again later this month, for what a source told The U.S. Sun will be their “final” hearing regarding the custody case.
