15 Year-Old Girl Faces Life Sentence for Killing Abusive Father

[georgephillip]

http://www.democracynow.org/2016/8/31/hero_or_murderer_15_year_old

"A young girl who shot dead her abusive father now may face life in prison, sparking national outcry over the treatment of domestic violence survivors.

"On July 28, 14-year-old Bresha Meadows allegedly killed her father, Jonathan Meadows, with a bullet to his head as he slept.

"Only two months earlier, Bresha had run away from home, telling relatives that she was scared for her life 'because her father was beating her mother and threatening to kill the whole family.'

"Bresha’s father reportedly made life for his family a living hell, routinely attacking his wife—Bresha’s mother—breaking her ribs, puncturing her blood vessels, blackening her eyes and slashing her body."

The relative Bresha confided in is her aunt, a Cleveland detective who works domestic violence cases. She was afraid to intervene because Jonathan Meadows hated cops, and Bresha's aunt believed her involvement would only worsen an already bad situation.

https://rewire.news/article/2016/08...ed-shooting-father-reported-abuse-faces-next/

 

[Deleted member 21794]

Taken at face value, I would cut this young girl some slack and let her go free. It sounds to me like she's gone through far too much already and imprisoning her doesn't make sense to me. I think it's reasonable that a 15 year-old would think shooting her abuser while he slept was her only option. We've all seen how the justice system lets these abusers keep abusing until someone is seriously hurt or killed.

 

[georgephillip]

Taken at face value, I would cut this young girl some slack and let her go free. It sounds to me like she's gone through far too much already and imprisoning her doesn't make sense to me. I think it's reasonable that a 15 year-old would think shooting her abuser while he slept was her only option. We've all seen how the justice system lets these abusers keep abusing until someone is seriously hurt or killed.

I would make the same decisions in spite of Jonathan Meadows's family members defending their brother:

http://www.democracynow.org/2016/8/31/hero_or_murderer_15_year_old

"Jonathan Meadows’ siblings have denied allegations of domestic violence. His brother told Fox 8 News, 'This has nothing to do with abuse," and his sister Lena Cooper called his death "cold and calculated.'

"JAMES BLOUNT: He drank a little bit. He had the ways he did things. But my brother would—I’ll literally say, he would have given his life.

"LENA COOPER: This was cold and calculated. My brother was murdered. It was cold and calculated. He was murdered in his sleep. There was no signs of abuse."

 

[as seen on tv]

is she being tried in juvenile court, or adult court? no juvenile ever gets life, so that's a factual issue right there.

without hearing any evidence at all - only the one sided portrayal of the shooter as a helpless victim, I would ask the following question.

Is it okay to shoot someone in the head while sleeping, if you never contacted the police, and your own aunt is a member of the police?

this kid should be tried in juvenile court. prior records of the deceased father and accused juvenile should be admissible as evidence, to get a fuller picture of the nature of this crime.

 

[georgephillip]

is she being tried in juvenile court, or adult court? no juvenile ever gets life, so that's a factual issue right there.

As I understand the situation, it has not been decided if she'll be tried as an adult or juvenile, Bresha's had only one court appearance, and she was denied bond at that hearing.

 

[georgephillip]

Is it okay to shoot someone in the head while sleeping, if you never contacted the police, and your own aunt is a member of the police?

I think the local police and other agencies were notified of the alleged abuse and did nothing about it; the execution was a last resort.

http://www.democracynow.org/2016/8/31/hero_or_murderer_15_year_old

VICTORIA LAW: So, Bresha’s father was sleeping. He had come home earlier that day. She had gone into her room to avoid the abuse, from what I understand. And he—when he went to sleep—nobody is sure, and I don’t know if her lawyer can give more details or wants to give more details at this time, since she is still pretrial—he was sleeping, and she shot him with the gun that he used to threaten his family. And again, this is—if you put yourself in the eyes—in the shoes of a 14-year-old, she saw this as a last resort. Nobody else was helping her. The police weren’t helping her. Child Protective Services weren’t helping her. None of the adults in her life seemed to be able to help her and her family."