HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016 06-02 Maplewood man sentenced to 25 years for beating toddler to death PIONEER PRESSMaplewood man gets 25 years for toddler's death
NEWS > CRIME& POLICE
Maplewood
for beating t••• •` death
Genesis /iorg17
months, died Fb.:'Z . 12,
2015, in IP alpiewood. (COLAirte<y Iphoto)
By f AlRAI II I(".SII'' III' II"II'' I shorner@pioneerpress.com
June 2, 20161 UPDATED: 4 days ago
1....eb IMike Meak (COLAirtesy ofIRaim=. ey
COLAi my <.>heiriff's office)
A Maplewood man was sentenced to more than two decades in prison for beating his girlfriend's 17 -month-
old daughter to death last winter.
Leb Mike Meak, 36, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the February 2015 murder of Genesis Xiang,
according to Dennis Gerhardstein, a spokesman for the Ramsey County attorney's office.
Meak Ilpleaded guilty,to sacoind.,,dagio-ee ui,ntu -dear, in the case in October.
At his plea hearing, Meak admitted he caused the injuries that led to the child's death.
Specifically, he admitted to squeezing the toddler with bath hands, causing a rib fracture; hitting her in the
abdomen, causing an injury to her liver; and throwing her on the bed, which caused the child to hit her head
on a wall.
The injuries occurred while the child was at Meak's Maplewood home. At the time, Meak was dating the
child's mother, Lia Pearson, and the toddler had been staying with Meak for several weeks before her death.
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Maplewood man gets 25 years for toddler's death
Police were called to Meak's home Feb. 12 on a io°'alllp io'a"t of a Ibaby not Ibii-eatllhii ng.
They found the girl covered in black and purple bruises on her stomach, chest and face.
Meak told police at the time that the girl hit her head on a space heater the night before and on some of his
weights the week before.
Pearson faces charges of child endangerment and manslaughter for her rale in her daughter's death.
Her case is scheduled to go to trial July 11, Gerhardstein said.
"It'sjust incredibly sad; a child last her life," he said.
. . #
Sarah Hornerjoined the Pioneer Press in 2011. She covers news in St. Paul and the
surrounding northern suburbs in Ramsey County.
' Follow Sarah Horner@hournsarah
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