AZLE — The troubled Couch family is once again in the spotlight after pictures surfaced that show Tonya Couch bartending at the Honky Tonk Woman in Azle.
Alisha Higgins, of Azle, says she took the pictures not to out Couch, but simply to prove to her family what she was seeing: the mother of Ethan Couch was working the bar.
Now 19, Ethan Couch was a 16-year-old teen when he killed four people during a drunken-driving wreck. A crime in which he was sentenced to probation.
"I asked her, 'Why a bar?' Being as everything they’ve gone through," Higgins said of her conversation with Couch.
Her response? "That nobody else would hire her because of who she is."
It's a statement backed up by Tonya's attorney, Stephanie Patten. She sent us this statement:
“Unfortunately, we are very limited in what we can say about Tonya outside of the courtroom. We will say this: Tonya is one of the few people in America where her lawful employment is news. Tonya has no assets and no other source of income outside of any job that she is able to get. She has sought and obtained other lawful employment, but because of the notoriety and intense media scrutiny surrounding her, she lost that employment. She is not in a position to be choosy about what type of lawful employment she will take. She is grateful that she has been able to find lawful employment and has not been forced to seek any government assistance."
Tonya Couch is out on bond as she awaits trial on charges relating to her alleged role in helping son Ethan escape to Mexico in 2015.
Darrell Collins, who owns the bar, said he doesn't agree with what Tonya Couch is accused of doing, but believes everyone deserves a second chance. He says she has given them no reason not to trust her.
"She’s certainly not going to get mother of the year, but people won’t touch her. I'm sure it's extraordinarily difficult," said criminal defense attorney Wes Ball of the situation.
Ball, who has no ties to the Couch cases, says despite possible ethical questions about the job, it keeps Couch from needing government assistance.
"I think it behooves us all that if someone is permitted to be out on bail they be permitted to work and pay their own way," Ball said.
Steve Gordon, who helps those with legal issues re-enter society, says people's pasts often keep them from work. But if they can get it, it helps.
"It's absolutely critical in their rehabilitation," said Gordon, the project manager of Re-Entry First-Stop Center of Tarrant County.
Higgins said Couch was pleasant during their encounter. Still, she questions the whole thing.
"I would’ve gone another route with employment, to say the least," she says.