Anna “Chickadee” Cardwell’s widower, Eldridge Toney, welcomed his first baby with fiancée Jessie English on Friday, August 28.
English shared the first glimpse of the couple’s son, Walker Stone, via Instagram on Saturday, August 29.
“Walker Stone Toney has made his arrival 8/28/26 at 1:49 pm weighing it at 8 pounds exact measuring 20.5 inches. He is his daddy’s twin for sure 🙂💙,” her caption read. “We love him so much already!! Welcome to the World sweet boy!!!💙.”
In January, Toney shared the news that English was pregnant and expecting their first baby together.
“We are highly excited!! I’ve had the stepdad title for years, and I finally will have a child of my own,” Toney exclusively told Us at the time. “I think I will make a great father. We are looking forward to building a life together and pushing forward. We have our goals of owning land and a home together with lots of animals. I’m not getting any younger so we think it’s time to grow what we have together. We appreciate all the support from everyone.”
That same month, English revealed her pregnancy via Instagram as she posted sonogram images.
“We are extremely excited to announce!!” she wrote. “Baby Toney due September!!! 🩷💙👶🏼.”
In February, English confirmed the sex of the couple’s impending arrival.
“It’s a boy!!” she captioned an Instagram post. “We are super excited to meet you sweet boy Walker Stone Toney.”
Weeks before the pregnancy news, Us exclusively reported that Toney and English are engaged after meeting on Tinder in March 2025.
“I finally worked up the courage to propose on Christmas Day,” Toney told Us in December 2025. “Our future together is bright from what we have talked about and how things are going now. I know a lot of people may say I’m moving on fast, but at the end of the day, Anna wouldn’t want me sitting around in misery.”
Two years earlier, Cardwell — the eldest daughter of “Mama June” Shannon — died in December 2023 at age 29 after a battle with stage IV adrenal carcinoma. She and Toney married that March after dating since 2017.
Following Cardwell’s death, Toney remained close to her daughters from previous relationships, Kaitlyn, now 14, and Kylee, now 10.
“If I have any opportunity to kind of make their lives better, even if it’s just a little bit, I’m going to do my best to do that,” he told People in June 2025. “Because I know that’s what Anna would have wanted. I’ve been in their lives for this long. There’s no point in me leaving just because Anna’s gone. Like, I’m not, I’m not stepping out of the picture.”
He added, “I want to be a part of their lives. Yeah, I’m not going anywhere. I want to stay in their lives until I’m gone.”
Amid Toney’s efforts to move forward, he reflected on his grief surrounding Cardwell’s death.
“Losing my wife was the hardest chapter of my life. The grief, the silence and the empty spaces she once filled were overwhelming. There were days I didn’t think I’d ever feel whole again,” he wrote via Instagram in July 2025. “But healing doesn’t mean forgetting. It means honoring the love we shared while finding the strength to keep living — truly living. She would have wanted that. Not for me to stay in sorrow, but to smile again, love again and build something meaningful from the pain.”
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