July 2016, teenager Bresha Meadows shot and killed her father in self-defense after he allegedly abused her, her mother and siblings in Ohio. She accepted a plea deal which states that in January 2018, Meadows will be released from a mental health facility where she is currently receiving psychiatric treatment.

According to the New York Times, Meadows was held in two juvenile detention centers for a total of a year before being transferred to the Bellefaire Residential Treatment Center.

Rapper Talib Kweli released a new song called "She's My Hero" which he dedicated to Meadows.

“The first thing that struck me about Bresha was how much she physically reminded me of my own daughter,” Kweli writes. “I had a similar experience when George Zimmerman killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, who reminded me of my son. I instantly felt drawn to these children, and I felt compelled to dive deeper into their lives. Leading up to shooting her father, Bresha’s grades were slipping in school, she had run away from home and had repeatedly told relatives and authorities that her father was beating up her mom and threatening to kill the whole family.”

Many of Bresha's relatives and even her sister claimed that the abusive tendencies of her father, Jonathan Meadows, was a thing of the past and that Bresha had murdered their father in cold blood. On the other hand, several others, including her mother, claimed that Jonathan was still verbally and physically violent up until his death.

Because it was declared that Bresha suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, her sentence was lessened whereas she could have served a life-sentence behind bars.

“Bresha is incredibly relieved and feeling optimistic about her life for the first time,” said Ian Friedman, her attorney. “It was nice to see her genuinely smile yesterday. This young girl will now have a very bright future.”

However, because Bresha was a witness to and victim of domestic violence, the judge's ruling was deemed insensitive to most especially in cases of young African-Americans and mental health cases.

Kweli and several others have rallied together to donate to Bresha's GoFundMe campaign to help raise money for treatment.

“Regardless of how you feel about this particular case, whether you feel it’s a self defense issue, a domestic abuse issue, a mental health issue or all of the above, the take away for me is that we must do a better job of taking care of and protecting our children,” he continues. “Our children should never feel they have to make these kinds of decisions. I see my own children in Bresha’s young face, and I want to uplift their voices as much as I possibly can.”

Listen to Kweli's "She's My Hero" on Soundcloud shared by XXL.

She's My Hero

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