Unraveling Jenelle Evans’ Custody Situations
Jenelle Evans has spent the last few weeks in the news, and it’s not for good reasons. The mother of three first made headlines in recent weeks when a 911 call placed by her boyfriend was released to the public. Weeks later, news broke that she would not return for season 3 of Teen Mom: The Next Chapter.
Additionally, she made headlines when media outlets reported she had dropped her 10-year-old son off to live with family. Evans has since picked up the boy. Still, confusion remains about the custody situation for each of Evans’ kids. We think we have it figured out.
Jenelle Evans did not parent her eldest child for most of his childhood
Jace Evans is Jenelle Evans’ oldest son. The Teen Mom alum had the boy when she was just 16 years old and preferred partying to parenting. Because of her unorthodox schedule, hard-partying ways, and substance abuse issues, Barbara Evans, Jenelle’s mother, maintained custody of Jace for most of his life.
In March 2023, Barbara Evans agreed to sign over custody of the teen to Evans. At that point, he moved in with his mother and stepfather full-time, but things soured quickly.
Just a few months later, CPS removed Jace from the home after David Eason physically attacked him. Evans regained custody of the teen in February 2024 after Eason had moved out of the family home. Jace currently lives with his mother in Las Vegas. His biological father, Andrew Lewis, has limited contact with the teen.
Jenelle Evans has had custody of Kaiser Griffith for most of his life
Jenelle Evans’ second son, Kaiser Griffith, was born during her short-lived romance with Nathan Griffith. While Barbara Evans took custody of Jace Evans almost immediately after birth, the younger Evans opted to parent her second son. He’s been in her care ever since.
While Evans has had custody of Kaiser Griffith for most of his life, the now 10-year-old spent several months in the care of his father, Nathan Griffith, in 2019. CPS removed Kaiser and his sibling from Evans’ care after David Eason shot and killed the family dog while several children were inside the home. Ensley Eason was also removed from her care at that time.
Kaiser moved with his mother and siblings to Las Vegas in May and started school in August. He was sent to live with his paternal grandmother in Tennessee the following month. It is unclear if Evans and Doris Davidson had a legal agreement when she dropped the preteen off in Tennessee. It would appear they did not go through a legal channel to establish guardianship or custody, though. Davidson has not spoken publicly since a Reddit user spotted Evans taking her son back to Nevada with her last week.
Does Jenelle Evans have full custody of Ensley Eason?
Jenelle Evans’ custody situation with her youngest child is the least clear-cut right now. In September, Evans insisted a judge awarded her full custody of Ensley Eason because David Eason, the girl’s father, was deemed unfit to parent. That isn’t exactly the case, but it is partly true. Before the separation, Ensley lived with both Evans and Eason in their North Carolina home, save for several months in 2019 when she was placed with family following the death of the family dog.
In late August 2024, Evans was granted temporary sole and legal custody of Ensley Eason after David Eason failed to attend a court hearing. Supervised visitations are being withheld until Eason agrees to a psychological evaluation. It is unclear if the North Carolina native is interested in parenting his youngest daughter. He’s spent most of his time since Evans moved to Las Vegas on TikTok with his new girlfriend, Kenleigh Heatwole. According to the Ashley Reality Roundup Group, Eason was on TikTok when he was expected to appear in court to discuss Ensley’s custody.
