A West Virginia mother has denied forcing her two adopted children to live in a shed despite police finding them there behind a locked door.
Jeanne Kay Whitefeather testified Tuesday in the second week of the trial against her husband, Donald Ray Lantz. The two are said to have mistreated four of the five children, all of whom are black. Whitefeather and Lantz, who are white, each face several charges, including forced labor, civil rights violations, human trafficking and extreme child neglect.
Whitefeather and Lantz were arrested in October 2023 when neighbors reported seeing Lantz lock two children – a girl and a boy – in a shed and leave the property in Sissonville, West Virginia.
Whitefeather said the shed is “a hangout for teenagers.”
A WEST VIRGINIA WOMAN IS ARRESTED AFTER YOUNG PEOPLE ARE FOUND IN A SHED.
Defendants Donald Lantz and Jeanne Whitefeather enter the courtroom of Kanawha County District Court Judge Maryclaire Akers for the first day of their trial, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025, in Charleston, West Virginia, after jury selection. (AP)
“They weren’t closed,” Whitefeather testified. “They had a key. They could come and go as they pleased.”
But the eldest daughter, now 18, testified last week that she did not know how to enter the key. The detective has previously testified that the key was found out of sight on top of a cabinet in the shed.
The girl also said that the children were given peanut butter sandwiches at designated times and were not allowed to eat outside of those times, regardless of whether they were hungry.
Donald Ray Lantz, left, and Jeanne Kay Whitefeather are shown during a break in Kanawha County Court on the first day of their trial in Charleston, West Virginia, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP)
Whitefeather says the children were allowed to use the refrigerator and she cooked every night.
After the couple’s arrest, the five children were placed under Child Protective Services.
HE WAS ARRESTED BY THE LEGAL LAW BEHIND ALLEGED THREATS TO KILL REPRESENTATIVES OF THE COUNTRY OVER THE BEEF ISSUE.
Donald Lantz and Jeanne Whitefeather are facing child neglect charges after the children were found locked in a shed. (West Virginia State Jail & Correctional Facility)
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The couple adopted the five siblings while living in Minnesota. They then moved to a farm in Washington state in 2018 before moving to West Virginia in 2023, at which time the children ranged in age from five to 16.
The older boy receives full-time care at a mental institution.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.