The prison industrial complex is certainly a complicated phenomenon, one that is further complicated when it involves teens. One such story involves 15-year-old Bresha Meadows, a teen who shot and killed her allegedly abusive father, Jonathan Meadows, nine months ago. To her mother, who claims to have suffered years of physical and emotional abuse, she is a hero.
“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,” Bresha's mother wrote at the time. “If he finds us, I am 100 percent sure he will kill me and the children.”
However, Bresha was subsequently arrested and sent to Trumbull Country Juvenile Detention Center where she served time during her birthday, Thanksgiving and Christmas. She was charged with aggravated murder.
But, it looks like there's a reprieve in sight, as Bresha’s lawyer, Ian Friedman (who took on the case pro bono), has confirmed to reporters that prosecutors have offered his client a plea deal, according to the Huffington Post.
Per Friedman, Bresha would serve a total of 18 months under the tentative deal; that time includes the nine months she has already spent in jail. Mental health is also taken into account here, given that Bresha will spend the remaining time at an in-patient mental health care facility, receiving treatment for her PTSD, anxiety and depression. Friedman confirmed that Bresha would likely enter a plea of “true” to an involuntary manslaughter charge, and that, as part of her deal, her record would be sealed and then expunged. The deal has not yet been finalized.
“There has been too much trauma here,” he said. “A treatment sentence would meet the desires of the family, and we as counsel would be comfortable with it as well.”
Her family is definitely excited about the hopeful plea deal and are eager for Bresha to come home.
“I want to do everything we used to do,” said Bresha's sister, Brianna Meadows. “Go to the mall. Go to the movies. Go out to eat.” Her brother, Jonathan, Jr., can't wait to do simple sibling things again, like putting his little sister in a headlock. “I’m usually cool, calm and relaxed,” he said, “but this morning I was so nervous!”
Social media actually had a huge part in creating awareness around this case as well as subsequent conversations surrounding domestic violence. The Ohio Women’s March held a rally to support the teen, showcasing #FreeBresha signs and homemade buttons, and speaking out on ending violence against women during their gathering in front of the courthouse.
"That little girl would have been just another black girl incarcerated because the system let her down,” without Friedman, said Martina Latessa, who is Bresha’s maternal aunt and a Cleveland detective specializing in domestic violence. “She would have fallen through the cracks.”
Latessa's goal is that that one day, Bresha will be able to tell her story to other victims of domestic violence, breaking the taboo around the topic, one of which "almost killed" Bresha.
A final pretrial hearing is scheduled for May 22. Assistant Trumbull County Prosecutor Stanley Elkins is hopeful that at the hearing, things will all be resolved. For Bresha's sake, let's hope it is.
