Warren, Ohio – Ohio teen Bresha Meadows was just 14 when she shot her sleeping father in the head in an act her family said ultimately saved them all.
Jonathan Meadows was killed in the shooting. Bresha was taken to a juvenile detention center in Warren, Ohio.
Bresha’s family doesn’t deny she killed her father. But they say when she pulled the trigger, she saved all their lives.
According to a police report, when Bresha was 9 her mother fled with her three children to escape Jonathan, who allegedly beat and tortured her for years.
“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,” wrote Brandi Meadows in a 2011 police report. “If he finds us, I am 100 percent sure he will kill me and the children.”
But eventually, Brandi returned to her husband. She told the Huffington Post, “When I left, I should have never come back, and my daughter wouldn’t be in jail.”
Brandi claims her children, including Bresha, were all abused by their father.
Now, prosecutors and Bresha’s defense attorney have a plea deal in the works that could set Bresha now 15, free.
Bresha’s attorney, Ian Friedman, told NBC News the teen could be looking at a proposed term of 18 months “which could be subject to impatient treatment.”
The plea deal would include the 9 months Bresha has already served and allow her to spend the remaining 9 months being treated for trauma in a mental health facility.
A trial has been set for May 22. If both parties can’t reach a deal, Bresha could be tried as a juvenile and remain behind bars until she’s 21.
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