‘Teen Mom 2’: Jenelle Evans Shares Father’s Day Tribute to David Eason in Wake of Parenting Controversies

Jenelle Evans is wishing husband David Eason a happy Father’s Day, thanking him for how “loving” he is to their family in a message on Instagram shared amid ongoing controversy surrounding the Teen Mom 2 alum’s relationship. Evans shared a poolside family photo featuring Eason and three of their four combined children — Eason’s daughter Maryssa, 13, whom he shares with an ex; Evans’ son Jace, 11, whom she had with ex Andrew Lewis; and 4-year-old daughter Ensley, whom Evans and Eason welcomed in 2017. Evans’ son Kaiser, 6, is spending the summer with his father, Nathan Griffith, so he wasn’t photographed with the rest of the family.

“#HappyFathersDay! To see how loving you are to our family is so amazing to me, compared to my bio dad,” Evans captioned the shot. “I didn’t know what it was like having a family until I met yours. You’re not only the step-dad but the one that stepped up. Our love for you is endless and I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

Evans and Eason’s relationship has been mired in allegations of abuse for years and in 2019 Evans briefly left her husband after he shot and killed the family’s French bulldog. The incident resulted in the couple having their children temporarily removed from their custody and Evans being removed from Teen Mom 2. “David killed my dog Nugget because he snapped at my 2-year-old, Ensley. He doesn’t put up with that and those are his beliefs,” Evans told Us Weekly at the time. “He just took her and shot her in the woods … about two acres away from the house.”

Eason defended killing the dog in a September 2019 interview with PEOPLE Now: “This was something that nobody wants to ever have to do. The dog was aggressive. Yes, she might not be huge or whatever, but you know when a dog bites a child on the face more than one time, then it should never be around the child again.” Eason also stirred up outrage last year when he killed and cooked the family’s pet goat, bragging on Instagram Live, “This is Elvis, the little baby we had last year,” before showing the goat’s head, which was thrown in the trash can alongside beer cans. In April, Eason faced further criticism for threatening to “smack” his 4-year-old daughter for accusing him of killing the family’s baby chickens during a TikTok Live session.