Activists in Warren, Ohio, will hold a Vigil to End Domestic Violence ahead of a Thursday court hearing for a 15-year-old girl charged in her step-father’s death.
According to a press release on the days of action, the #FreeBresha vigil seeks to raise awareness about what organizers say are unfair charges against the teen.
“In developing responses to domestic violence, federal, state, and local governments have invested in criminalization and punishment rather than resources that would protect survivors and offer ways out of abusive relationships,” the press release states.
On July 28, Bresha fatally shot her father, 41-year-old Jonathan Meadows, police say. She has been charged with aggravated murder and entered a plea of “not true,” the equivalent to a “not guilty” plea.
Her mother, Brandi Meadows, called Bresha “a hero” after the fatal incident. She said she had suffered years of abuse at the hands of her husband, and wrote that she was “100 percent sure” Jonathan would kill her and her children if he found them in a protective order filed in 2011. The couple later reconciled.
The Bresha Meadows Freedom Campaign, Project NIA, the Mahonning Valley Organizing Collaborative, and other activists and concerned citizens in eight states have set up more than a dozen actions to raise awareness of the injustice Meadows has faced.
A full calendar of #FreeBresha actions can be found here.
