What did Whitney Purvis do? Charges against the 16 and Pregnant alum explored amid her arrest a month after son Weston’s death

Whitney Purvis, who appeared on MTV's 16 and Pregnant, was arrested on several charges. Reporting her Floyd County, Georgia, arrest records, TMZ indicated that she was taken into custody Monday, July 7, 2025, for suspicion of involuntary manslaughter.

As reported, Purvis "distributed" a substance "purported to be" a combination of tranq and fentanyl, which resulted in John Mark Harris' death from a "toxic overdose." Significantly, as noted by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), tranq, also known as xylazine, is an animal tranquilizer.

Purvis has also been charged with a count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and communicating an electronic device to commit a felony offense involving the aforementioned drug.

Whitney Purvis appeared in the inaugural season of MTV's 16 and Pregnant in 2009

Whitney Purvis' arrest just a month after she had posted news of the passing away of her son, Weston Owen Gosa Jr. Interestingly, she was pregnant with Weston during her stay on the first season of MTV's 16 and Pregnant in 2009.

The reality series, presented in a documentary format, followed the lives of pregnant teenagers. Whitney appeared in the fifth episode titled Whitney. Purvis' segment focused on the financial toll she faced and the social fallout of her pregnancy. The episode detailed that she got pregnant by her boyfriend, Weston Lewis Gosa. It featured her journey to the birth of her son and how she juggled her responsibilities.

Whitney Purvis posted about Weston's death on Facebook last month. Admitting that life was "cruel and unfair," she described how he had died at the age of 16. Conveying her shock and emotional distress, she posted:

"This is really my worst nightmare come true. How do you go on in life after losing a child? I'm in disbelief, this cannot be happening. I don't want it to be real. I would do anything just to hold him. Words just can't describe the pain I am feeling."

It should be added that Purvis also has a second son named River Blake with now-ex Weston Lewis Gosa.

Whitney Purvis subsequently spoke up about dealing with Weston's passing in an interview to People magazine. She then clarified that Gosa Jr. had "a lot of medical issues." Most importantly, he had a congenital deficiency of alpha-1 antitrypsin (a protein secreted in the liver which protects lungs) and subsequently Addison's disease (deficiency in secretion of the hormones cortisol and aldosterone). She also said that the latter disease "brought out the diabetes."

"He hated having diabetes, and he hated the needles. He would cry and ask, 'Why did that have to happen to him? Why did he have to have diabetes?' It was just something hard for him to accept," she told the outlet.

 

 

 

 

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Elsewhere in the interview, Purvis spoke of becoming "frozen" after Weston's passing. She said:

"When I'm not crying, I'm just staring at the ceiling."

Whitney Purvis has an arrest history. That's included a March 2012 arrest for shoplifting a pregnancy test, criminal trespass in December of that same year, and not making child support payments in 2024, according to TMZ.

Whitney Purvis is being held without a bond.