Updated Wednesday, Oct. 5, 8:30 p.m. EDT: The pretrial hearing for Bresha Meadows has been delayed because of "voluminous evidence being exchanged," according to Bresha's attorney Ian Friedman.
"When we learned that Bresha was on suicide watch, we recognized the urgency of getting her released from jail," said Mariame Kaba, a member of Survived & Punished and founder of Project NIA. "Now that she is back in the general population, it remains urgent that she is freed. The days of action are a way to both raise awareness about the harms of incarcerating traumatized children and also a call to the prosecutors that they should drop the charges against Bresha and allow her to heal with her family. We implore everyone to continue to lift up Bresha's name. We refuse to allow the system to disappear her."
Earlier:
Bresha Meadows, 15, sits under a suicide watch tonight at the Trumbull County Juvenile Detention Center in Ohio awaiting an Oct. 6 court date that will determine whether she is prosecuted for aggravated murder.
As The Root previously reported, on July 28, Bresha walked into her parents’ room and killed her sleeping father with a .45-caliber, semi-automatic handgun. Having endured years of “mental, physical, emotional” abuse, Bresha—along with Brandi, her mom, and the entire family—lived in constant fear. Only two months earlier, Bresha had run away from home, “telling relatives that she was afraid for her life” because her father was beating her mom … and threatening to kill the whole family.”
The #FreeBresha project announced Oct. 5 and 6 as Days of Action in support of Bresha. Events were scheduled in cities across the country with the goal of raising awareness of the problems suffered by victims of domestic violence.
A note on the site read:
We take action in solidarity with Bresha and demand that she is returned home to her family and that all charges against her are dropped. We call on #SayHerName / #BlackLivesMatter supporters, victim advocates, feminists, racial justice activists, young people, and people of faith to take action in solidarity with Bresha and all survivors of domestic & sexual violence who are criminalized for surviving.
The #FreeBresha hashtag on Twitter was full of support and love for the teen and other survivors of domestic violence on Wednesday, with calls to sign a petition asking for her to be freed and released to the love and care of her family.