Teen girl who admitted to fatally shooting allegedly abusive father in self-defense is freed from detention center

Bresha Meadows, the 16-year-old Ohio girl who pleaded guilty to fatally shooting father because she was abused, was reportedly reunited with her mother on Sunday.

The Vindicator reported that Meadows was sentenced in May to two months in juvenile detention followed by a six-month sentence in a Cleveland mental health facility after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter. Bresha was 14 when she fatally shot father Jonathan Meadows, 41, in the head at their family home on July 28, 2016.

“Bresha has been through an incredibly traumatic ordeal. I have confidence that she is going to do great things in her life. I hope that people allow her to put this behind her and let her live in peace, finally,” defense attorney Ian Friedman told the Tribune Chronicle.

Jezebel reported that the teen had reportedly run away from home twice and was diagnosed with PTSD prior to the July 2016 shooting. Bresha’s mother accused Jonathan in a 2011 police report of cutting her, breaking her fingers and ribs, and blackening her eyes during their tumultuous 17-year marriage, according to HuffPost.

While the 14-year-old didn’t speak to police, Friedman immediately claimed that his client was abused and that, while living with her father she was subjected to an “unimaginable nightmare” on a “daily basis.”

Though Bresha was reportedly allowed to visit her mother on weekends during the winter, The Vindicator noted that her release date should’ve been sometime late last month. However, her release date is difficult to pinpoint as juvenile court proceedings are typically kept private, the paper said.

Meanwhile, Lena Cooper, Johnathan’s sister, is less-than-thrilled with the recent turn of events. Cooper claimed that investigators never determined why the weapon used in the shooting had his brother’s DNA–and another person from the household’s–but not Bresha’s. She also said that abuse accusations didn’t come to light until weeks after the shooting.

Cooper told the Chronicle“It is very hard for my family because true justice has not been served.”

[Featured Image: Bresha Meadows/GoFundMe]