#FreeBresha campaign member, Mariame Kaba, reports on what she witnessed at Bresha Meadows’ May 22, 2017 court appearance when Bresha’s plea deal was finalized. Article @ Teen Vogue; excerpt below:
For her entire life, Bresha witnessed her father’s brutal violence against her mother and siblings, according to family members. Bresha herself was also abused emotionally and, according to her own accounts, sexually. Dr. Kathleen M. Heide, an expert in parricide, testified in court on Monday that Bresha fit the characteristics of a “severely abused child.” She tried to escape her abusive home on several occasions only to be returned to her father, reaching out to adults who she thought would help her, like her aunt Martina Latessa, a Cleveland police detective who described the first 14 years of Bresha’s life as “a nightmare.” In court, Ian Friedman, Bresha’s attorney, said, “she grew up in an environment where every adult failed her.” She told many people that she was in trouble and needed help. The night she killed her father, she took matters into her own hands to protect herself and her family, according to those working for her freedom.
