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Jonathan Meadows Slaying: Did His 14-Year-Old Daughter Bresha Act In Cold Blood Or Self Defense? [Video]

By Patricia Ramirez
Published on: 17:13 PST, Aug 5, 2016

Jonathan Meadows was killed in a gun-related slaying on July 28. His alleged murderer? His own 14-year-old daughter Bresha Meadows. According to the teen and her mother, the family had been victims of domestic violence at the hands of Jonathan Meadows for years leading up to the slaying. Jonathan Meadows’ sister, however, has a different story. Lena Cooper calls her deceased brother “a good man.”

“My brother was a good man. He loved his family. He loved his children. He loved his wife.”

Bresha Meadows’ mother says her teenage daughter is a “hero,” and her defense attorney claims that there is plenty of evidence to indicate that there may be much more to the slaying of Jonathan Meadows than meets the eye.

“The evidence we have in her defense is very compelling.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22_QLj2LRfY

Regardless of the why, neither the victim’s family, Bresha’s mother, nor the 14-year-old’s legal defense team deny that the young teen is the one that took Jonathan Meadows’ life in the late-July slaying. According to all accounts, she shot her father to death with his own gun. She was taken into custody shortly thereafter and has been charged with aggravated murder for the slaying of Jonathan Meadows.

Bresha recently pleaded not guilty to the charges levied against her, despite the fact that her father’s family call her nothing more than a cold-blooded murderer.

The case against the teen and the slaying of her father has reportedly pitted family member against family member. At least one of Bresha Meadows’ aunts says that the alleged domestic abuse that Bresha alleges took place at the hands of her murdered father was so severe that the family has the medical records to prove it.

Jonathan Meadows’ family, however, argues that the allegations being levied by Bresha and other members of her family are simply untrue. According to them, the 14-year-old who reportedly admitted to slaying Jonathan Meadows is a troubled teen. They say that she is not a victim or a hero but a disobedient teenager who shot her father when he was defenseless and sleeping.

“She had ran away from home because she was doing things that a 14-year-old should not be doing. So she’s not a hero, she’s a murderer. She killed my brother. This was cold, calculated. He was killed in his sleep, and the family is doing everything they can to discredit my brother. And it’s not fair.”

As WFMJNews reports, there is at least some concrete evidence to indicate that domestic violence took place in the household well before the slaying of Jonathan Meadows. One instance of domestic violence among the family members was reported in 2011; the alleged abuse incident was handled by the Trumbull County Court. In the 2011 case, the charges were ultimately dismissed.

It has also been reported that a restraining order was granted to Bresha Meadows’ mother at some point in young Bresha’s childhood, but it was dismissed when she reentered into a domestic relationship with her husband Jonathan Meadows, reports Fox 8.

According to Martina Latessa, who is Bresha Meadows’ aunt and her mother’s sister, her sister was repeatedly victimized by Jonathan over the course of their marriage and relationship. Latessa contends that her sister suffered multiple broken bones over the years at the hands of Jonathan Meadows. She further contends that in many domestic violence situations, victims protect their abusers and/or fail to report abuse for years or even decades.

In addition to being related to Jonathan Meadows’ alleged murderer, Martina Latessa is also a police officer specializing in domestic violence cases.

“My sister told me that Jonathan said I will kill these kids Brandi, then I will kill you.”

Latessa says that her sister and niece had been victimized by Jonathan for years, and it was the domestic abuse that led up to the slaying of the 41-year-old husband and father.

Despite everything that is being said to disparage him and his reputation, however, the family of Jonathan Meadows is still coming to his defense and standing by his memory.

“All of this about him being abusive mentally, physically, sexually — none of that came to light until this child was not going to be released from custody. And all of it is just to raise money and get sympathy for them.”

What do you think? Is this a case of a teen killer trying desperately to cover her tracks? Or was the slaying of Jonathan Meadows the direct result of his own abusive behavior?

[Image via Shutterstock]

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