Teen Mom’s Mackenzie Edwards Seemingly Defends Estranged Husband Ryan After Prison Sentencing

Breaking her silence. Mackenzie Edwards (née Standifer) has seemingly asked for people to have mercy on her estranged husband, Teen Mom OG alum Ryan Edwards, after he was sentenced to nearly one year in prison following his guilty plea to harassment charges against her.

“Stop talking down on people who lost their way and start praying they find their way,” Mackenzie, 26, shared in a Thursday, April 20, Instagram Story following Ryan’s sentencing hearing earlier in the day.

It was quite a contrast to what she said previously about his sentence. “It’s a start. He’s an addict,” Mackenzie told The Sun ​following Judge Gary Starnes’ decision issued at the Hamilton County court. “There are four other charges pending. Hopefully, he’ll get more.”

Two days prior, Mackenzie had posted an Instagram Story photo of a highlighted Bible verse from John 13:7 which read, “Jesus replied, ‘You do not realize now what I am doing, but you will later understand.'” Mackenzie also shared a passage from the Book of Job that read, “He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy,” and how it meant God was saying that joy, breakthrough and healings were coming and how, “Your mourning is going to be turned to dancing, your sorrow turned to joy.”

Ryan appeared in court where Judge Starnes sentenced the former reality star to 11 months and 29 days in prison, according to court records viewed by In Touch. With good behavior, Ryan could be granted early release and placed in a halfway house or under house arrest, In Touch confirmed.

Mackenzie filed for divorce from Ryan on February 27, after six years of marriage. She was granted both a restraining order and temporary custody order for their two children, son Jagger and daughter Stella. The former MTV star was arrested two days later on March 1 and charged with “Stalking [and] Violation of Order of Protection,” according to a Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office press release.

In Touch obtained police body camera footage on Wednesday, April 19, that showed Mackenzie reacting to Ryan’s alleged violence and the aftermath of their destroyed home at the hands of the former reality star. “He just got crazy and violent, and he’s never been that way before, ever,” Mackenzie explained in the video taken on February 10 after her call to the police. 

The video showed broken windows, holes punched through the walls, overturned furniture and graffiti with derogatory slurs on the walls after Ryan allegedly ravaged their home.

“I told him that I wanted a divorce, so he’s known for a minute,” she explained to Hamilton County Sheriff authorities in the video. Mackenzie added that the former couple’s young children “saw the whole thing.”

In an arrest affidavit obtained by In Touch, Ryan had previously threatened Mackenzie in an alleged phone call, saying, “You better f—king lie to the dudes who come and ask you, they’re gonna come and ask you at work. If you don’t tell me the truth right now, God you’re gonna f—king regret that. … What’s about to happen to you is gonna be ugly.”

Ryan’s parents, Jen and Larry Edwards, were seen in attendance at their son’s sentencing hearing but made no attempt to talk to Mackenzie, who sat on the other side of the courtroom. The couple seemed “emotional and upset,” according to The Sun, who had a reporter on scene. The outlet noted that the Ryan’s parents left first following the sentencing and did not interact with their daughter-in-law after the hearing had finished.