Whitney Purvis is now facing seven felonies charges— including an upgraded aggravated involuntary manslaughter charge— stemming from the 2025 death of her friend whom prosecutors say Whitney sold a street drug containing fentanyl to that resulted in his death.
On January 9, prosecutors officially pressed the charges against Whitney, who starred on the very first season of 16 and Pregnant in 2009. As The Ashley reported, Whitney was arrested on July 7 for the crimes, and shortly after being released, was arrested again for a violation of her probation. She’s been out of jail on bond since August.
The Ashley can exclusively reveal that, this week, Whitney’s involuntary manslaughter charge was upgraded to the more-serious charge of “aggravated involuntary manslaughter.”
In addition, Whitney is facing four felony charges of “Illegal Use of a Communication Facility” (all with different offense dates, which indicates that Whitney allegedly committed that crime multiple times). She is also being charged with “Sale of Fentanyl” and “Possession of Fentanyl with Intent to Distribute,” which are both felony-level charges.
(Whitney has been accused of distributing Tranq— a drug that contains a combination of fentanyl and xylazine— to her friend John Mark Harris, who died in February after taking the drug.)
The General Bill of Indictment— filed on January 9 and obtained by The Ashley— provides more details of the crimes that Whitney allegedly committed in early 2025.
The document claims that on or around January 23, 2025, Whitney used her cellphone to introduce “the idea of a controlled substance to John Mark Harris, discussing its potential effects and pricing, discussing delivery and payment methods, and describing how to ingest said substance by using aluminum foil.”
One week later, the Bill of Indictment claims that Whitney again used her cellphone to discuss selling the substance to him again. Whitney is also accused of “sending a picture verifying delivery of said substance to the residence of John Mark Harris…”
On February 3, 2025, Whitney again allegedly used her cell phone to discuss another sale of the substance and to confirm “she is on the way to deliver said substance to the residence of John Mark Harris.”
She is accused of doing similar sales to him on February 14 and February 16 as well. It is the alleged sale on February 16 that prosecutors say caused John Mark Harris’ death on February 17.
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.
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In July, John Mark’s mother Lisa Harris gave an interview to TMZ about Whitney’s arrest.
“She did this, and as a result, my son is dead,” Lisa stated, adding that she had never met Whitney. “[I’m] glad nobody else must go through this because of her actions. The whole thing is so heartbreaking. I feel sorry for her — not because she got arrested, but because her life got to a point of dealing drugs.”
According to court documents obtained by The Ashley, Whitney is set to be arraigned on February 5. She has been declared indigent (aka unable to pay for legal services) and has been appointed a public defender.
The Grand Jurors for the case have been chosen, and a list of witnesses has been filed, including John’s father and members of the Rome, Georgia, police department.
Whitney starred on “16 and Pregnant” Season 1 alongside Teen Mom stars Maci Bookout, Amber Portwood and Catelynn Lowell. Her episode covered her pregnancy with her first son, Weston Jr. (who tragically passed away last year at the age of 16). She was one of only two girls from Season 1 who didn’t go on to appear on ‘Teen Mom.’
The Ashley will continue to update this story when more info is available…
(Photos: MTV; Floyd County Sheriff’s Department, Bartow County Sheriff’s Department, Instagram)
One Response
Teen mom producers probably kicking themselves for not picking this girl to continue filming with.. perhaps her story would not be this way if cameras were on her all the time.. idk sad, stay away from drugs people