16-year-old Bresha Meadows, made news back in 2016 when she was convicted of murdering her abusive father.
On May 22nd, 2017, the teen was convicted of involuntary manslaughter with gun specifications. Meadows who pled “true” to shooting her abusive father in when she was only 14 years of age. By the sentencing hearing, she had already spent 10 months behind bars, and she was sentenced to 60 more days in juvenile detention followed by six months in a mental health facility.
Bresha’s mother, Brandi Meadows has been supportive of her daughter right from the beginning and told authorities about his physical abuse, not only of Bresha but abuse that she too suffered, back in 2011 when she filed for a protective order against him.
“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. If he finds us, I am 100 percent sure he will kill me and the children.”
According to the Huffington Post, many of Bresha Meadows’ family member believed that Jonathan Meadows might have been sexually abusing her.
“No matter what I did, I couldn’t do anything right. I believe she was trying to help our whole family get out of the box that he put us in. I believe that she saved all of us.” Brandi Meadows said of her daughter back in 2016. “She is my hero. I wasn’t strong enough to get out, and she helped us all.”
Whether Meadows was indeed being sexually assaulted by her father doesn’t change the fact that she was a clear victim of abuse. Instead of treating her as such, the system decided to lock her up and hold her responsible for the death of a man, who quite possibly could have ended up taking her life.
She is expected to be released Sunday, February 11th into the care of her mother. She will then be placed on probation for two years, so her ordeal will still not be over.
