Trigger Warning: This story contains mentions of child loss.
Weston Gosa Sr., the father of Whitney Purvis’ two eldest children, says he’s hoping the former 16 and Pregnant star’s recent arrest for involuntary manslaughter will be the “wake-up call [she] needs” to seek help and recovery. Weston Sr. also addressed some of the statements Whitney made about him on social media last month following the death of their eldest son, Weston Jr.
As The Ashley told you on Monday, Whitney was arrested in Floyd County, Georgia, this week on three charges, including felony involuntary manslaughter, and is being accused of distributing Tranq– a drug containing a combination of fentanyl and xylazine– to friend of hers named John Mark Harris, who died in February after taking the drug.
This week, Weston Sr., who appeared alongside Whitney on Season 1 of “16 and Pregnant” in 2009, spoke to TMZ about Whitney’s latest legal run-in, claiming that he and his family were “deeply sad to hear the news” that resulted in Whitney’s arrest and are praying that “justice will be done for the sake of the victim’s family.”
At this time, Whitney is behind bars and will remain there until at least July 17 (her next court date), after being denied bond by a judge. As of Tuesday, she was on suicide watch due to allegedly making concerning comments following her arrest. It was also reportedly earlier this week that while behind bars, Whitney has been detoxing from the drugs she had allegedly been using at the time of her arrest.
As you may recall, the news of Whitney’s arrest came just over a month after Whitney and Weston Sr.’s eldest son, Weston Gosa Jr., passed away at the age of 16. (Weston Jr.’s stepmom, Amy Gosa, revealed in an online fundraiser for Weston Jr. that while the teen had health issues, his death was unexpected.)
At the time of Weston Jr.’s death, Whitney did not have custody of him or his brother River. (She also gave birth in 2023 to a son named Collin– who was not fathered by Weston Sr.– that was reportedly not in her custody either.)
Despite not having custody of her children and not seeing them in years, Whitney was very outspoken following Weston Jr.’s death, even implying last month that Weston Sr. was to blame for his sudden passing because he wasn’t taking care of the teen’s health. Whitney also claimed that she was suspicious of her ex because he had a small life insurance policy taken out for Weston Jr.
While speaking to TMZ, Weston Sr. addressed some of the accusations, insisting that, despite Whitney’s claims, Weston Jr. was receiving proper care before he passed away.
“We want to make it very clear we have documented medical records to show that our son was seeing his doctors and getting his medication daily,” Weston Sr. stated. “His most recent appointment at [Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta] was April 4.
“The accusations she has made are disgusting and sad,” he added.
Weston Sr. also said that he hopes the latest news about his ex will make it clear to others that Whitney– who also reportedly showed up late to Weston Jr.’s funeral service last month and was denied entrance– was being untruthful with her claims in an attempt to make he and his family look bad.
On Wednesday, Weston’s stepmom Amy also spoke out about all of Whitney’s insinuation that Weston Jr. was medically neglected by his dad and stepmom. She also discussed the life insurance policy that Whitney had mentioned.
“We’ve stayed quiet out of grief and respect, but I can’t continue to let false accusations go unanswered,” Amy wrote. “Losing Weston has been the most painful, devastating experience of our life. He was our son. We loved him deeply, and we cared for him every single day. We were on top of his health, his medications, and his doctor appointments—paying out of pocket when insurance fell short, advocating for him, and doing everything we were told to do medically. His last doctor’s visit was April 4th, and his next one was scheduled for June 6th. He was not neglected. He was loved.”
She went on to discuss the life insurance policy taken out on Weston Jr., which Whitney insinuated was Weston Sr.’s reason for “neglecting” their son’s medical needs.
“There have also been rumors surrounding life insurance and funeral arrangements. Yes, Weston did have a small life insurance policy—but we were not the holders of that policy,” Amy wrote. “It was taken out by my husband’s mother when he was born and was only for $5,000. His funeral cost almost $9,000. We paid the difference as well as help from the GoFundMe which was around $3,000 and handled all of the arrangements with love and care, as any parent would.”
Finally, Amy addressed Whitney’s very public claim that she was not allowed to attend Weston Jr.’s funeral last month.
“That is absolutely untrue. Whitney was told the correct time—not only by us, but also directly by the funeral director,” Amy wrote. “She showed up two-and-a-half-hours late, and by the time she arrived, the service was already halfway through and the pastor was speaking. No one barred her from coming. She simply did not arrive on time. We felt as though it was disrespectful to disrupt the middle of the service, especially as his biological mother, we feel as though she should have been on time or early for the viewing, not just the service.
Amy went on to write that Whitney has created drama that is tarnishing the memory of Weston Jr.
“The hurtful and false claims being spread right now are deeply damaging—not just to me and my husband, but to the memory of Weston himself,” she wrote. “He deserves to be remembered with love, not as the center of social media drama. And for those who are saying I ‘let him die’ or calling me a murderer—I want you to know your words are cruel, unfounded, and harmful to a grieving mother and family.
Finally, Amy explained why a guest list was created for Weston Jr.’s funeral.
“I also want to add, the reason the funeral had a guest [list] is because of how public his death became and we did not want reporters or people we didn’t know showing up and taking pictures of our son’s dead body to post all over the Internet.”
In the comment section of her post, Amy stated that she became Weston Jr. and River’s mom because Whitney was not present in the boys’ lives.
“I’ve been raising these two kids full time since little Weston was 8 years old and River was 1 and a half,” she wrote. “I’ve received comments and messages stating I have no right to grieve him bc I was not his mother. I want to make it crystal clear that no I was not his or River’s biological mother, but I was their momma. Like I said I raised them longer than their biological mother did… I love those two boys just the same as I love my own bio child. I was the one who he called momma…”
