CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Friday pre-trial hearing revealed new details in the case of Jeanne Whitefeather and Donald Lantz, a Sissonville couple accused of locking two of their adoptive children in a shed.
Kanawha County Circuit Judge Maryclaire Akers denied the motion to sever the trial of Whitefeather and Lantz.
The two, whose trial is set to begin on Monday, were accused in October 2023 in a 20-count indictment after two of their black adoptive children were locked in a shed on their property. The indictment alleges charges of child abuse, human trafficking, and forced child labor with civil rights violations.
Details from Friday’s pre-trial hearing showed a previous investigation into Whitefeather and Lantz’s treatment of their five adopted children before moving to Kanawha County. Before the move, Whitefeather, Lantz, and the five children lived in Washington state.
A motion was filed by the Kanawha County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office allowed the evidence of abuse from before the move to West Virginia to be used in trial. Prosecutors say the couple had adopted five black siblings in 2018 from Minnesota before moving to Washington in 2019.
Prosecutors also say the abuse began in Washington, and was even investigated by the Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office at one time. The motion said that the Washington child protective services records showed concerns of ongoing abuse and neglect from October 2022 through April 2023.
That same motion also said Whitefeather and Lantz kept the five children on a ranch in Washington. On the ranch, the couple would deny bedrooms in the house, forcing the children to sleep in tents until Lantz built a “detached building.”
Prosecutors say that the children, while in Washington, were forced into “inappropriate farm labor.” In addition, the five children endured physical and mental abuse at the hands of Whitefeather and Lantz, who supposedly used cattle whips and bear spray on them. The children were also forced to wash clothes by hand and bathe outdoors.
Recent court filings from the prosecutors showed pictures and videos from Whitefeather’s phone and surveillance cameras from before the move to West Virginia.
The motion revealed on Friday mentioned specific abuse against one child while still in Washington. The child, who the motion listed as “L.W.” had a mental health condition. According to prosecutors, Whitefeather and Lantz locked L.W. in a separate room and isolated him from the other four children. The other four were told and conditioned to fear L.W. According to the motion, one of the other four children was conditioned to be in a “warden-like” role over L.W. to police his action.
According to prosecutors, L.W. attended public school in Washington for a period of time until people suspected neglect, to which Whitefeather and Lantz pulled him out. The motion described that school officials “could not stop him from eating food out of the garbage cans at school.”
The motion also says that while living in Washington, two of the five children attempted to run away from Whitefeather and Lantz’s property. One of the children who attempted running told investigators they heard Whitefeather discharge a gun that was kept on her hip in a holster.
The motion said that Whitefeather and Lantz would further mistreat the runways after their attempts.
Other actions from the time in Washington were on video from surveillance and Whitefeather’s phone, and Kanawha County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Madison Tuck brought those up at the hearing Friday.
Tuck brought up an incident they had possession of where Lantz supposedly struck a child with a PVC pipe.
Interviews from the Okanogan County investigation were shared in Friday’s hearing. No charges were filed in Okanogan County or any other area in Washington.
Whitefeather and Lantz moved to Sissonville in April 2023. Soon after the move, multiple neighbors made reports to CPS regarding the children working on the property. These reports said the children had to use a portable toilet in the yard and stand for extended periods of time.
In the trial, Whitrefeather is expected to take the stand and four of the five children are expected to testify.
According to Judge Akers, about 255 people will come in for jury selection.
The trial begins on Monday. It is expected to take two weeks.