Hunter Johnson‘s father has been portrayed as an absentee/deadbeat dad on the current season of Unexpected, as well as by Hunter’s girlfriend Bella Vaughn and her mom on social media. However, Hunter’s dad— Casey Johnson— is disputing these claims in court documents filed last week. (As The Ashley previously told you, Casey has filed for full custody of the 14-year-old and Hunter’s one-year-old son Wes.)
In the court documents, Casey reveals that Hunter has lived with him the majority of his life, and that things only started going downhill for his son after he went to live with his mom Stacie Riddle. Casey also claims he actually allowed Stacie to live with him, his wife and Hunter at one point a few years ago, following Stacie’s stay in drug rehab.
Casey claims that when Hunter moved in with Stacie in 2024, he was allowed to live at Bella’s parent’s house, began missing school and ended up knocking Bella up when he was 12.
Here, The Ashley has composed a timeline of Hunter’s life and living situation, based on information provided by his dad Casey in the court documents he has filed since 2025.
(Again, the following information is all based on what was written in Casey’s court filing. However, it does include info taken from Stacie’s court filing responses as well.)
2011: Hunter is born to Casey and Stacie, who are in a relationship at the time.
2013: Stacie and Casey separate but, according to Casey’s legal docs, were able to “successfully coparent” Hunter without court intervention. The exes share custody but do not seek an official custody order.
2017: Stacie enters rehab for “substance abuse issues,” according to Casey. Hunter goes to live full-time with his dad during this time. Casey marries Hunter’s stepmom Brettney.
2018: Stacie gets sober and completes rehab, and she and Casey resume their (informal) shared custody arrangement for Hunter.
2021: Stacie falls on hard times and is “unable to maintain stable housing or provide adequate structure” for Hunter, according to Casey. As a result, Casey allows Hunter and Stacie to move in with him and Brettney “in order to provide stability and support.” (This seems to confirm Brettney’s claim in a social media comment made last month that Stacie once lived with them, and that she and Stacie were at one time good friends.)
2022: Stacie gets her own home via public assistance but ends up getting evicted allegedly due to “issues related to drug use.” Hunter lives with Casey full time after his mom’s eviction, and stays with his dad from fifth grade until seventh grade.
2022-2023: Hunter “performed well academically” and participated in extra-curricular activities while living with Casey and his stepmom. Casey states that he “appropriately monitored” Hunter’s activities. (Around this time, Hunter would have been about 10 or 11 years old.)
Late 2023: Casey claims Stacie began allowing Hunter to have unmonitored access to a cell phone and social media, as well as to be in “relationships beyond what is appropriate for his age.” This includes his romantic relationship with Bella. Casey claimed that he enforced supervision and restrictions to these things for Hunter when he was with him; however, Stacie would “undermine those efforts.”
2024: Stacie removes Hunter from Casey’s care. (She is able to legally do this due to the fact that she and Casey never had a court-ordered custody plan made up for Hunter.) Casey claims that Stacie also denying him access to Hunter at this time.
June 2024: Hunter and Bella are engaging in a sexual relationship and Bella ends up pregnant with Wes. Hunter is 12 years old, while Bella is 14.
Mid-to-late 2024: Hunter and Bella are filmed for ‘Unexpected.’ Casey objects to his son appearing on the show. Casey claims he did not consent to Hunter being on ‘Unexpected’ and was against it because he felt the show opened Hunter up to “inappropriate influences and public scrutiny.” Casey refuses to be filmed for the show, so the storyline plays out that he has been an absentee dad to Hunter.
March 2025: Bella gives birth to her and Hunter’s son, Wes.
April 2025: Casey files for full custody of Hunter. He claims in court docs that Stacie allowed Hunter to be in an “unstable and unwholesome environment,” alleging that Stacie gives Hunter marijuana and does not make him go to school. (On ‘Unexpected,’ it was revealed that Hunter was in danger of failing the seventh grade.)
June 2025: Stacie responds to Casey’s bid for full custody of Hunter. In her response, she claims that Casey was “abusive” and that Casey never had an “established relationship” with Hunter (despite the fact that Hunter lived with Casey for years). She asks a judge to dismiss Casey’s filing for custody. Around this time, Casey tells the court that it’s been over a year since he was allowed to see Hunter.
July 2025: Casey asks a judge to order Stacie to submit to a urine and hair follicle drug test, as he says he believes she’s abusing prescription drugs and/or using illegal drugs. Casey offers to pay for the test; however, he wants Stacie to reimburse him should she test positive for drugs. Later that month, Stacie files to have Casey submit to the same drug tests, writing in court docs she thinks he’s using drugs.
Stacie writes in her court response that Casey has not “established a meaningful relationship with” Hunter and “has failed to participate in the child’s extracurricular activities or demonstrate involvement in the child’s daily life.” She also claims that Casey has only had a relationship with Hunter for “less than one year” and that during that time, their relationship was “marked by a pattern of abusive behavior toward the child during that time.” She asks the judge to dismiss Casey’s bid for custody of Hunter.
August 2025: Casey claims in court docs that someone called the Department of Human Services (DHS) hotline on him, less than 30 days after he filed an amended bid for full custody of Hunter. Because of someone reporting Casey to DHS, Casey says Hunter had to be subjected to a child abuse interview. He also claims that Stacie making the call (or having someone make it) violates a court order forbidding them from harassing each other. He asks that Stacie be held in contempt.
Late August 2025: In her response to the court, Stacie denies making the call or having someone make it. She also denies Casey’s claims that he hasn’t been able to see Hunter in over a year. She mentions several instances where Hunter saw Casey (and mentions that in February 2025, Casey stood Hunter up for a visit to the batting cages, something that played out on the show).
September 2025: Casey reports to the court that he is still not being permitted to see or talk to Hunter, and formally gives the court notice that he wants to be given visitation with his son.
November 2025: A temporary custody order is created, giving Casey and Stacie each 50/50 custody of Hunter, with Hunter staying with each parent for a week at a time. They are ordered not to harass or talk badly about the other, and are forbidden from allowing Hunter to spend the night at Bella’s house. They must make sure Hunter goes to school.
April 2026: Casey files for even more restrictions to be put in place. He states that he believes Stacie is still allowing Hunter to have overnight visits at Bella’s despite the court order banning it. He also claims Stacie has not made Hunter go to school, resulting in him having “excessive absences and low grades.” He states that Bella’s parents have placed a location tracker on Hunter’s cellphone, allow Hunter and Bella to have sex and then discuss their sex life on ‘Unexpected.’
Because of this– as well as concerning scenes he watched on ‘Unexpected’— Casey asks that the judge move up their hearing and he can be awarded full custody of Hunter. He also asks a judge to ban Hunter from spending time with Bella’s family unless he is present. In addition, Casey wants Hunter to only use a cellphone that he provides so that the Vaughns can’t track Hunter’s location.
He asks the judge to ban Hunter and Bella from spending time together unsupervised.
April 8, 2026: Casey files for full custody of his grandson, Wes.
RELATED STORY: EXCLUSIVE! ‘Unexpected’ Custody Battle: Hunter Johnson’s Father Sues for Full Custody of Hunter & Bella’s Infant Son Wes
7 Responses
This show and their social media should be all the evidence he needs.
I really hope he is able to protect Hunter. I know that right now, Hunter might think his dad is being unfair but this is the best for his future and his baby. He and his future will be dragged down if he doesn’t have space away from Bella’s family. There seems to be only one parent in this whole situation who is trying to protect their child.
I hope he gets custody of Hunter and the baby. Bella and her family are groomers
This is why you always have a custody agreement on file no matter how cool you are with the other parent,
And his dad shouldn’t be too worried as some who used to answer those hotlines
One of the first thing ask is are you currently involved in a custody dispute. It’s never a random caller, it’s usually the other parent.
While I side eye TLC and their content, Bella and Hunter are not alone there are children in this situation. I won’t spill the sins of my kin, but I am glad people are seeing this sort of dysfunction and the families attempts to normalize their actions. Those moms are living in some sort of weird world where this is all ok and haven’t been told no. I know this sort and the emotional abuse those kids are being exposed to is even worse.
And yeah it’s pretty obvious the kid is high.
The only intelligent and reasonable person in that family. Go Casey, I hope you get full custody!
Disgusting situation because of Bella and her parents. Horrible. But it is great that hunters dad is advocating and trying to do what is best. I hope he is successful.
Team Dad all day. It’s clear to anyone who has watched the show or followed along that Bella and her family are looney and money hungry. I hope he gets custody.