David Eason is claiming he’s nearly $50k in debt and no longer able to afford the criminal defense attorney his now-estranged wife, Jenelle Evans, had been shelling out the cash for before their split, The Ashley can exclusively reveal.
After David was charged with child abuse in October 2023, following an incident in September in which Jenelle’s teen son Jace told authorities that he was assaulted by David, Jenelle hired (and paid for) attorneys William and Tara Gore to defend her then-soulmate in his criminal court case. In January, the fired Teen Mom 2 dad was hit with an additional felony charge of “assault by strangulation,” but he still had the support of Jenelle– and her criminal defense team.
The couple would go on to split in February, and months later, David had to go to the court to let them know he could no longer afford the private attorneys. David was forced to declare himself indigent (aka living in poverty and unable to afford basic life necessities) and begged the court to assign him a public defender, which The Ashley can confirm only recently happened.
In the Affidavit of Indigency he filled out and filed with the court in May, David declared the sad state of his finances, revealing he only has $106 total in all his bank accounts— which include CashApp and Step Bank accounts. (In case you’re wondering what “Step Bank” is, it’s “a mobile banking app that offers a Step account and Visa Card to help teens and young adults start their financial journeys.”) He reported that he actually owes $797 on those accounts, though.
David, who is 36 years old, listed his profession as “self/scuba diver/influencer.”
While David claims he makes $1200 a month from his scuba diving and influencing endeavors, he reported that he is currently nearly $49,000 in debt.
David claimed that his monthly expenses– including car expenses, $900 in food, rent and utilities and more total $4357. This total also includes the $1800 David claims to be paying in support payments, which we can assume is child support. (However, Jenelle recently declared in court that, in the six months since their split, David hasn’t paid her anything in child support for their daughter Ensley. David is currently very behind in his support payments to his second baby mama, Olivia Leedham.)
The bulk majority of the debt David claims to have is from taxes, though. The fired reality star interestingly revealed that the last time he filed income taxes was for the 2018 tax year, and that he owed– and assumingly still owes, based on his affidavit— $46,000 in taxes. (As fans know, David and Jenelle were married in 2018, so this would affect her as well unless they filed separately. Also, the fact that he hasn’t paid income taxes for the 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 or 2023 tax years may affect Jenelle as well.)
David lists his address as the North Carolina marina where he has been living on his and Jenelle’s broken boat (or, as The Ashley likes to call it, his “boaterhome”). He also noted that he is not currently on welfare or food stamps.
If David’s criminal case goes to trial (and he doesn’t take a plea deal, if offered), he could be facing some serious jail time. His “assault by strangulation charge” is a Class H felony, and carries a maximum of 39 months in prison. For his misdemeanor child abuse charge, David is facing up to 150 days in jail.
The official court summons issued in October claims that David “willingly” harmed Jace during the September incident.
“[David] unlawfully and willingly did, being the parents of Jace V Evans, who was a child, less than 16 years of age, inflict physical injury on that child,” the court document states. “The physical injury inflicted caused marks on [Jace’s] right arm, and left and right side of the neck, and was inflicted by other than accidental means.”
The Ashley can also confirm that David attended a court hearing on August 5 for his criminal case. Just days later, though, David was a no-show at a hearing regarding custody of his and Jenelle’s daughter Ensley. (As The Ashley told you earlier this week, Jenelle was granted sole legal and physical custody of Ensley, due to David not showing up to fight it.)
The Ashley will have more on David’s criminal case soon. Stay tuned…