HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015 02-13 Maplewood man charged in beating death of child MAPLEWOOD REVIEW2/4/2016 Maplewood man charged in beating death of child I Lillie Suburban Newspapers - LillieNews.com
Maplewood man charged in
beating death of child
Submitted byjholub on Fri, 02/13/2015 - 6:29pm
By: Holly Wenzel
The afternoon of Friday, Feb. 13, the Ramsey County Attorney's Office charged Leb Mike Meak with
murder in the second-degree in connection with the Feb. 12 beating death of an 18 -month-old girl
under his care at his home in Maplewood.
Meak, 35, of Maplewood will make his first appearance in Ramsey District Court Feb. 17 at 1:30 p.m.
at the Ramsey County Law Enforcement Center.
The Ramsey County medical examiner has ruled the child's death a homicide. Prosecutors are
asking for bail of $1.5 million.
If convicted, the charges carry a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison.
Discovery of the death
/ reb Mike Meak
At 11:03 a.m. Thursday, Maplewood police and fire responders were called to a house in the 2500 block of Barclay Street, where a baby was
reportedly not breathing. Meak, who had made the call, led them down to a basement bedroom. The child was unresponsive and paramedics
attempted to save her life, but she was declared dead at the scene.
Paramedics and police said they found the child not breathing, with purple lips. When they cut away the girl's clothing to perform CPR, they reported
seeing multiple "black and purple" bruises on her chest and stomach. The toddler had smaller bruises on her face.
Meak and his father, who was also in the home with the baby at the time, were taken to the Maplewood Police Department for questioning. The older
man was eventually released.
Investigation
During formal interviews, Meak reportedly stated that he was caring for his girlfriend's daughter at the Maplewood home and that he "roughed her up
a bit" while changing her diaper. He also admitted to shaking the little girl a few times.
Meak is reportedly not the biological father of the child. He told investigators he had been caring for the girl at his Maplewood home for a month while
her mother "worked a lot" and lived in Bloomington.
Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension crime scene investigators located the presence of semen on the genital area of the child.
Allegedly, when questioned, Meak admitted penetrating the girl with his finger and offered no explanation for the semen, saying "if you guys found my
DNA of course it's gonna match because I'm the only one that's there."
Other portions of the reported interview include Meak admitting he would give the girl "a little spanking" when he changed her diaper, but not to the
point where she "passes out or anything." He also allegedly told investigators the girl had hit her head on a space heater and also on some weights in
the past couple of days.
"This young child suffered unspeakable horror in the last moments of her short life," said Ramsey County Attorney John Choi. "This is an especially
heinous crime, and we will seek justice for the family as well as the entire community."
"Few crimes are more disturbing than the death of child at the hands of a caregiver," said Maplewood Police Chief Paul Schnell.
Holly Wenzel can be reached at review@lillienews.com or at 651-748-7818.
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