Teenager Accused Of Killing Father, Family Says Girl Is ‘Hero Who Saved Them All’
Photo provided by Martina Latessa
Photo provided by Martina Latessa
UPDATE: Bresha Meadows has been offered a plea deal. In a report from HuffPost:
"Under the proposed deal, Bresha would serve a total of 18 months, taking into account the nine months she has already spent in jail, her lawyer Ian Friedman said. She'd spend the remaining time at an in-patient mental health care facility, and her record would be sealed and then expunged, he said."
Read the original story below.
Last year came news that 15-year-old Bresha Meadows killed her father, 41-year-old Jonathan Meadows, and was subsequently charged with aggravated murder following the incident. Since then, she has been held in juvenile detention for the past several months.
Now, an Ohio judge is expected to decide whether the teenager can go free while she awaits trial. The trial is scheduled to go on May 22.
The incident between Bresha and Jonathan stems back all the way to 2011, when the former's mother, Brandi Meadows, filed a civil domestic violence protection order against Jonathan, writing that she was in fear of her life.
"In the 17 years of our marriage, he has cut me, broke my ribs, fingers, the blood vessels in my hand, my mouth, blackened my eyes. I believe my nose was broken," Brandi wrote. "If he finds us, I am 100 percent sure he will kill me and the children…my life is like living in a box he created for me, and if I stepped out of that box, he’s [right] there to put me back in that box."
The protection order was later dismissed at her request and the couple reconciled, a common occurrence in abusive relationships.
Ian Friedman, Bresha's attorney, maintains that she acted in self-defense to protect her family from her father's abuse. However, Jonathan's family argues that he was not abusive, and his death was coldblooded and calculated.
During a recent hearing, Friedman argued that Bresha, who is diagnosed withpost-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety, was not receiving adequate mental health care at the Trumbull County Juvenile Detention Center where she is jailed.
A campaign in support of the teenager has popped up through the hashtag #FreeBresha. A GoFundMe account set up by Martina Latessa, Bresha's aunt, has received over $100,000. The funds have been used to get the treatment Bresha needs and will continue to be used for that even if the teen is convicted and imprisoned until age 21, the worst punishment she could receive as a juvenile.
