Whitney Purvis is back in jail just days after being released on bond— and this time she’s picked up three additional charges!
The Ashley can confirm that the former 16 and Pregnant star— who was arrested earlier this month for Involuntary Manslaughter and several other serious crimes— was arrested again this week and is currently sitting in jail in a different county in Georgia than the one she picked up her Involuntary Manslaughter charge in.
The “16 and Pregnant” Season 1 star is now facing all of her original charges, as well as two felony counts of Possession of a Schedule I Controlled Substance, as well as a Violation of Probation charge. A warrant for her arrest in Bartow County, Georgia, was filed on Tuesday and Whitney was jailed later that day.
For her newest alleged offenses, Whitney also took a new mugshot, which The Ashley posted above.
As The Ashley previously reported, Whitney was originally arrested on July 7 for involuntary manslaughter, “use of communication facility in commission of a felony involving controlled substances” and intending to distribute a controlled substance. She received the charges after allegedly distributing Tranq— a drug that contains a combination of fentanyl and xylazine— to a friend of hers, John Mark Harris, who died in February after taking the drug.
As part of her bond conditions for that arrest, a judge ruled that Whitney was not allowed to have direct or indirect contact with John Mark’s family, and had to live at an agreed-upon location. She was also not allowed to consume any alcohol, illegal drugs or non-prescribed medications. Whitney— who had allegedly been detoxing while behind bars— was also required to continue treatment and submit to drug screenings.
According to a representative at the Bartow County Jail who spoke to The Ashley, it is not common for someone to pick up additional drug charges after testing positive for drugs at a court-ordered drug screen. Normally, the rep stated, the defendant would just be charged with a probation violation, unless they possibly brought drugs to the drug screening.
Before gaining these three additional charges, Whitney was already facing some serious time behind bars if she was convicted of the three charges stemming from her arrest on July 7. The state of Georgia has been cracking down on fentanyl-related crimes since the passing of Senate Bill 465, aka “Austin’s Law,” in 2024. The bill created a new offense category —felony aggravated involuntary manslaughter— under which drug dealers and distributors can be prosecuted for their role in a person’s death if they are determined to have helped manufacture or sell the deadly fentanyl drug.
Under the bill, it does not matter if Whitney knew what was in the deadly drugs she allegedly distributed to John Mark Harris. “Austin’s Law” states that the dealer/distributor’s “knowledge of the chemical identity should not be an essential element of the offense” and that the State does not have to prove that the alleged dealer/distributor knew what was in the substance.
The Georgia Virtue reported that the punishment for this offense will carry a prison sentence of 10-30 years, and can’t be merged with any other offense.
As of press time, Whitney is currently in jail. The Ashley will continue to update this story. Stay tuned…
RELATED STORY: “16 & Pregnant” Season 1 Star Whitney Purvis Arrested for Felony Involuntary Manslaughter: Details
(Photos: Georgia Gazette, Floyd County PD, MTV)
16 Responses
She doesn’t appear to want to get clean or change her life around. It’s sad because she’s probably going to end up losing her life just like the other young women from 16 & Pregnant. She doesn’t care about her own life let alone someone else’s that she took. Her losing her son is not an excuse because she hadn’t been seeing him for awhile before his passing.
Her poor children.
Ok so all I know about the criminal justice system is from SVU, so can someone fill me in – the person who paid to bond her out, do they get that money back now that she’s back in prison?
yes, the bond should be rescinded (released) whatever collateral was secured for the bond is then returned to the person. The bond is generally forfeited only if the person fails to appear.
Wrong. If the perp does something to get bond revocation, such as violating their bond terms as is the case here the money is not always returned and even when it is, it can take months of red tape. So the idiot that ponied up 1500 for her will have to wait.
I’d be grateful if The Ashley started defiling these mugshots. Maybe write ‘dipshit’ across her forehead, give her a mustache, clown nose maybe. I legit cannot stand people like that.
You know…in that updated mug shot she kinda…looks like Kail. Yikes.
I feel like that went out of fashion when Perez Hilton rebranded as less of a bully
The internet isn’t kind 🤷🏻♀️not sure why people can slam Ryan Edwards for the shit he did yet not this one. Don’t really care though.
I think that’s big in California? My cousin killed a family of 3, burned their house down. Drugs of course. He kept trying to get parole. Finally they were like, fuck you. No more. A guy near the town I live in killed 4 of his family members 35 years ago. He’s getting out. People are condoning it. Uhm..he’s clearly a psychopath.
I’m just going to play devils advocate and I’ll be drug. I think something really bad happened to her as a child. I’m not saying what it was. Just bad. So, she self medicates. I don’t need anyone coming for me about they aren’t drug addicted. I am a SA survivor who is also not on drugs. Everyone is different.
Called it.
If they bonded her out, instead of leaving her in to fully detox and clean herself up, she’d be using again.
She needs to be grateful bc jail probably saved her life.
I have not screwed up my whole life and then had a child pass away who I didn’t do right by, and then carried the shame of all my wrongs as a person who knows nothing but to turn to drugs. So I can’t imagine what she’s going through. She needs JESUS.
She needs extensive rehab and therapy lol Jesus, that’s hilarious 😂
My ex-husband caught a drug charge with a VOP charge because he had a meth pipe (full of meth) in his pocket when they went to pick him up on the VOP (which was failing a drug test and not adhering to other probation conditions). I could see the same scenario happening with Whitney.
I have a cousin that’s doing Life plus 100 years right now because he simply couldn’t stop getting burglary and grand theft auto charges. I don’t know what the laws in Georgia are, but in Florida they can just get sick of your shit and throw away the key after three (felony) strikes. How many is Whitney at?
They basically said she had drugs on her when she submitted to take her court ordered drug tests, did you not read the article at all? 🥴
Did you read it? “Normally, the rep stated, the defendant would just be charged with a probation violation, unless they possibly brought drugs to the drug screening.” That’s not saying that’s what she did, just that’s normally how the charge is acquired. It also states that they issued the warrant for her arrest and she was arrested later that day, which means what I mentioned is also a viable possibility, because they usually arrest you on the spot if they find you with drugs in your possession at the screening.