Bresha Meadows pretrial hearing underway

WARREN — A May 22 trial date was set during this morning's hearing in juvenile court, and Judge Pamela Rintala said Bresha Meadows, 15, will be transferred to a mental-health facility for an evaluation.

Bresha, who is charged with killing her father when she was 14, also will not face the possibility of sanctions past age 21, her attorney said after court because a serious youthful specification has been eliminated.

Before the hearing, Brandi Meadows, Bresha's mother told the dozen news media members waiting in the courtroom Bresha freed her from "the box" her husband put her in.

Bresha is charged with aggravated murder in the July 28, shooting death of Jonathan R. Meadows Sr., 41, in the family’s Hunter Street Northwest home.

About 3 a.m. that morning, Brandi Meadows called 911 and reported that Bresha had shot her father in the head. He was dead at the scene, Warren police Capt. Robert Massucci said.

She’s going to be tried as a juvenile, but she is charged as a serious youthful offender, which could push her punishment past age 21 if she’s convicted and doesn’t complete her rehabilitation successfully.

Bresha has been the subject of rallies in many cities across the country.

The Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative has taken up her cause, having a Prayer Vigil to End Domestic Violence in Courthouse Square before her last hearing in October.

MVOC also has attended hearings in the case and gathered 7,000 signatures on a petition seeking Bresha’s release from the Juvenile Detention Center, where she has been held since shortly after her father’s death.

Meadows family members, including her mother, have argued that Bresha killed her father to protect Brandi and other family members from Jonathan Meadows.

Bresha’s attorney, Ian Friedman, said after one juvenile court hearing that Bresha’s life was an “unimaginable nightmare” while living with her father. Members of Jonathan Meadows’ family say he was not abusive. Jonathan Meadows had no police record.

But Brandi Meadows received a protection order in family court in July 2011 against Jonathan Meadows, saying he threatened to kill her and the children if he found out she was cheating on him, according to documents obtained by The Vindicator.