The mother of Bresha Meadows, the 15-year-old who approached her father while he was asleep in his living room and shot him, applauds her daughter in her actions.
The teenager is now is being held at a juvenile detention center and is charged with aggravated murder in the July 28 slaying of her 41-year-old father, Jonathan Meadows. There is a possibility that Meadows will be charged as an adult. If this is the case, she will become the youngest inmate in the Ohio prison system. Bresha just celebrated her 15th birthday on Thursday.
15-year-old girl Bresha Meadow allegedly killed “abusive” father while defending mother: https://t.co/ejcpWB8ItX pic.twitter.com/Y3F8snoW9w
— EBONY MAGAZINE (@EBONYMag) August 13, 2016
To her father’s family members, Bresha is considered to be a killer who took her father’s life in cold blood and therefore deserves to be tried as an adult.
Her mother and her mother’s immediate family see it all in a different light, stating that the teen helped her mother and herself. The Washington Post shares the words of Bresha Meadows’ mother Brandi.
“She is my hero. She helped me; she helped all of us so we could have a better life.”
Brandi Meadows shared that all she and her family wanted, including her daughter, was a life free from “terror of physical and emotional abuse exacted upon them by her husband.”
Meadows told the publication that her daughter was ready to start her freshman year of high school and was enrolled in a gifted program in middle school. Abuse, however, was taking a toll on the teenager and her grades were dropping while her desperation level was on the rise.
“I watched my child deteriorate. She went from being okay to nothing. He terrorized us. “
Bresha’s mother shared that the abuse had been going on for years, which prompted Brandi to file a protective order that eventually was dismissed. The torment at the hands of Bresha’s father had become so bad that she was often afraid to leave.
“The state failed to protect Bresha. Now, it has chosen to criminalize her.” https://t.co/ue6q0rHPDk #breshameadows
— Melissa Jeltsen (@quasimado) August 11, 2016
Brandi admits to have been abused on so many occasions that she found herself at the hospital as an outpatient at least 15 to 20 times, sharing that there were holes punched in the wall all over their home to demonstrate the level of abuse and anger. Meadows also shared that sometimes her husband would use his fists to make the holes and other times he would use her head. Her husband was also very controlling, monitoring her every movement and never far away, ready to pounce.
“You name it, he did it. Mentally, physically, emotionally.”
Lena Cooper, the sister to Brandi’s husband, claims that Meadows was a good and loving father and husband. She added that he was abusive at one time, but that he wasn’t recently.
“This was not a family living in fear. My brother is being crucified for something that happened years ago. There is no evidence of recent abuse. We talked with the authorities, and they said there was no signs of abuse. It was murder. But I don’t want my niece to get life in prison. I want her to get help. If it was that bad in that house, (Brandi) could have run. My nephew has a car. My brother wasn’t there 24 hours a day.”
Bresha’s aunt Latessa, Brandi’s sister, tells a different story. A story that begins with a little girl born into a nightmare and unable to escape it.
“From Day One, she was born into a nightmare,” Latessa told the Plain Dealer, noting that her niece had run away from home at one point and come to her for help. She was begging me for help. She was very, very scared for her mother and sisters.”
A GoFundMe page has been started to assist in funding the defense of Bresha Meadows. Thus far the initiative has raised $29,000. Bresha Meadows is set to return to court at the end of August.
[Image via Bresha Meadows’ Instagram]
