This 15-year-old girl assassinated her father

A teenager killed her father last summer

She was charged with aggravated murder in the beginning

But the history of domestic abuse that arose changed the course of her trial

Last summer, a teenager decided to go ahead with what practically no females are known to do: kill her own father.

15-year-old Bresha Meadows shot her father while he was sleeping. Yet the frantic history of abuse that was brought up in the aftermath of his death shook an entire country.


Bresha Meadows, a murderer to some but a hero to her family.
The trial went on for nine months, and the judge finally gave his verdict: Bresha was charged with charge of involuntary manslaughter, and sentenced to one year and a day in juvenile detention.

She will also spend an additional six months at a residential mental health facility and will have two years of probation. The time Bresha has already spent in detention means that in about two months she will move to the mental health facility.


The Meadows family.
Bresha’s father had a terrible history of domestic abuse against her mother and children. He apparently “terrorized” them.

The situation was probably so bad, that her mother, Brandi Meadows, called her daughter a hero. She said her husband was a violent, abusive man. “She helped all of us so we could have a better life,” Brandi declared.


Bresha at the trial
In the beginning, Bresha was charged with aggravated murder. Her case started causing a public opinion storm, which started bending towards the injustice of how many black women and children were punished by the system, for simply protecting themselves.

Bresha’s life was falling apart shortly before she killed her father. He grades were falling; she started cutting herself, which is an alarm among teenagers in trouble; and she ran away at some point.

Jonathan Meadows regularly beat his wife in front of their children. He apparently even threatened them with a gun. She said she was scared for their lives.


People in support of Bresha during her trial.

His own family disavowed this image of him. “He did not abuse his family. He did not abuse his children,” his sister, Lena Cooper, had said.

A community of supporters set up an entire network of information to support Bresha's case:


But the evidence to the contrary was decisive in the judge’s final decision. Brandi had filed previous accusations, and at some point she obtained a domestic violence protection order.

“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,” she declared in that instance