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MsMisunderstood

Active Member
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BLOOMINGTON -- A 14-month-old girl's death -- allegedly at the hands of her father -- was due to head injuries consistent with blunt-force trauma, the Peoria County coroner said Saturday.

Coroner Johnna Ingersoll's office conducted the autopsy on Erika Meece of Bloomington on Saturday.

Police found Erika inside her father Jeff Meece's home after responding to reports a man breaking glass with a baseball bat. She was transferred to OSF Saint Francis Medical Center, Peoria, around 11:20 a.m. Thursday and was unresponsive and pronounced brain dead. She was formally pronounced dead at 11:20 a.m. Friday.

Ingersoll could not say whether Erika suffered some of her injuries from being struck with a bat, as Jeff Reece allegedly told authorities while being questioned. The Reece family told The Pantagraph that police told them she was struck with a bat.

Jeff Reece was charged Friday with three counts of first-degree murder and was being held on $1 million bond at the McLean County jail.

Family say Erika, who lives with her mother, Renee Frisch, elsewhere in Bloomington, only visited her father Thursdays and Fridays. Ingersoll said she was told Erika arrived at her father's Madison Street home around 7 a.m. Thursday.

The 911 call about the man breaking glass came in around 9:20 a.m., police said previously.
Source

They held a vigil last night too

BLOOMINGTON -- Nearly 50 people gathered for a Friday vigil for 14-month-old Erika Meece, who died from injuries suffered Thursday at her father's home.

She was pronounced dead at 11:20 a.m. Friday at OSF St. Francis Medical Center, Peoria. Jeff Meece, 47, remained in the McLean County jail, charged with Erika's murder.

Organizers of Friday's vigil said it allowed people to show respect without infringing on the family's privacy.

On Friday night, the solemn group -- made up of co-workers of Erika's mother, Renee Frisch, Erika's relatives and friends, and even some strangers -- assembled about 7 p.m. at Miller Park in Bloomington.

With a light rain sprinkling, they took shelter under the park's concession stand.

After lighting white and purple candles, the group opened with The Lord's Prayer.

Later, a few mourners said the rosary quietly, while small groups comforted each other in silence.

Later, the group sang "Jesus Loves Me," in honor of Erika.

"I've been to vigils. But this one is so sad," said J.J. Keys, of Bloomington, a longtime family friend.

George and Pam Forrest of Bloomington, relatives of Erika, were among the crowd. "Please keep everybody in your prayers," said Pam Forrest. "She was a very sweet girl."

Vigil organizer Jeremy Burkhart of Normal said he didn't know the toddler, or her family, but wanted to show Erika's mother that she was in the community's thoughts.

He said the tragic events broke his heart. "I have a child due Dec. 24, a girl. And I have a niece I care for who is the same age as Erika -- 14 months," said Burkhart.

He decided Friday afternoon to set up the vigil. After the service, Burkhart thanked each person who attended, with a handshake or hug.

"It's good to come together as a community so we can let Erika's mother know we're thinking of her," he said.

Source
 
So he did this on purpose to his daughter or did he swing and accidently clock her with the bat.... which really wouldn't be an accident in my mind anyway because you have to watch one year olds MUCH BETTER THAN THAT. Either way omg I hate him.
 
BLOOMINGTON -- A man charged with fatally beating his 14-month-old daughter repeated "Someone killed my baby" and "I killed my baby" to police just before the injured girl was found in his home, prosecutors said Friday in court.

Jeff Meece, 47, was charged Friday with three counts of first-degree murder in the death of his daughter, Erika. He was being held on $1 million bond, requiring him to post $100,000 to be released.

Police responded to Meece's home at 609 S. Madison St. around 9:20 a.m. Thursday to a report of a man breaking windows with a baseball bat. He acted aggressively toward police and was Tasered and pepper-sprayed, said police spokesman Duane Moss.

Meece made repetitive, alternating statements to police on scene that he or someone killed "his baby," according to a probable cause statement read in McLean County court. He later said someone killed Erika with a bat, prosecutors said.

Officers checked the home and found Erika upstairs, with visible signs of trauma around her face and head, authorities said.

She suffered skull fractures and hemorrhaging and was brain dead. She was pronounced dead at 11:20 a.m. Friday at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center, Peoria, said Peoria County Coroner Johnna Ingersoll.

An autopsy is scheduled for Saturday, she said.

Meece was crying and appeared unsteady on his feet in court Friday. He screamed "Oh my God!" as prosecutors outlined the charges against him. Meece looked down at the floor most of the several minutes he spent in front of Judge Robert Freitag.

The judge told Meece that a conviction on the murder charges could mean a sentence up to 100 years in prison because the victim was under 12 years old.

Family history

Meece lives in the home with his nephew, Scott, and mother, Shirley, according to Scott Meece. He said Erika lived with her mother, Renee Frisch, elsewhere in Bloomington and only visited two days a week.

"She was a wonderful kid," Scott Meece told The Pantagraph outside the home Thursday afternoon. "She always enjoyed being around her dad on Thursdays and Fridays."

Scott Meece said he and Shirley went to a local restaurant Thursday and returned around 9:30 a.m. to find police at the home. He said Jeff Meece, who was on disability and did not work, had a drug problem and often acted strangely as a result.

Scott Meece said police told him Jeff Meece beat Erika with the bat. Police would not comment on how Erika suffered her injuries.

Jeff Meece was being held at the McLean County jail. He is due back in court for an arraignment Sept. 4.

Been trying to find pictures of the Little One so she can be honored properly... *sigh* He killed her within 2 1/2 hours of her being there.... How could it not be intentional? Unless he was high or something...
 
A Bloomington man accused of killing his 14-month-old daughter showed signs of mental illness and frequently heard voices, his mother said Monday after a judge declared him unfit to stand trial.
[...]

Reports from two psychiatrists indicated Meece is unfit to stand trial on first-degree murder charges, Public Defender Amy Davis told Judge Robert Freitag. The 47-year-old defendant will be taken to McFarland Mental Health Center in Springfield.

With inpatient treatment, Meece may be restored to fitness within a year, the judge said after reviewing the doctor's recommendations.

Shirley Meece told The Pantagraph that her son has had ongoing mental health problems.

"He was hearing voices for five or six years. Sometimes it was so bad he had to put his hands over his ears," she said.

Meece said she did not know why her son may have committed the actions described in murder charges.

"I don't know why. It never once dawned on me that it would come to this," said Meece's mother, who was living with her son at the time of the incident.

Shirley Meece supports her son's transfer to a mental health facility.

"I think it could help him a lot if he sees the doctors and they can figure out the right medication for him," she said. It would have helped a lot more if they had figured it out BEFORE he became a daddy and killed his baby.
[...]

Meece will be returned to court May 3 to review the status of his treatment.
http://www.pantagraph.com/news/loca...cle_18512410-09e1-11df-be05-001cc4c002e0.html
 
B-N man ruled insane, not guilty in daughter's killing

Posted: Wednesday, September 22, 2010 in the pantagraph

BLOOMINGTON -- A Bloomington man was found not guilty by reason of insanity Wednesday in the killing of his 14-month-old daughter last year.

In a stipulated bench trial in which both sides agreed to the facts that would have been presented at a trial, Judge Robert Freitag ruled there was enough evidence to find that Thomas Jefferson Meece, 48, committed first-degree murder and caused the head injuries that killed Erika Meece.

At the start of Wednesday's hearing, Meece, who also goes by the name of Jeff, told the judge he understood that Public Defender Jim Tusek and Assistant State's Attorney Jennifer McCoskey were presenting a mutually agreed upon statement of facts to the court.

"Please tell me I didn't do it, your honor," he said.

Court documents indicate that police were called on Aug. 20, 2009, to the 600 block of South Madison Street for reports of a man swinging a baseball bat. Erika Meece was found inside the home of her father with serious head injuries. The child died in a Peoria hospital the following day.

Earlier this month, two psychiatrists found Meece unfit to stand trial on the first-degree murder charges, but both sided agreed to the stipulated trial.

"The evidence presented supports the finding that at the time of the incident, he was legally insane and therefore, is not guilty by reason of insanity," Freitag said.

Meece will be housed by the Illinois Department of Human Services and will undergo a thorough evaluation. He is scheduled for a placement hearing Nov. 30 at which Freitag will make a determination on his future.

"At that time, the Illinois Department of Human Services will have enough time to file a written report, and then I will decide what the next step is," Freitag said.

Meece, still in the custody of the McLean County Sheriff's Department, sobbed throughout the hearing and was allowed to make a final statement.

"I loved my baby," he said.
http://www.pantagraph.com/news/loca...cle_b5a9b90e-c695-11df-a583-001cc4c002e0.html
 
If he was so 'insane', why would anybody drop off this little girl at the home and leave her in the care of a delusional man?

I can only assume that Jeff was out of his mind on the morning of poor Erika's death. How could the two relatives in the same house not notice this behavior before leaving for breakfast? Also, if he had a drug problem-why would they allow this poor little girl to be cared for by her father?

I just don't understand the finer details.
 
A Bloomington man found not guilty by reason of insanity in the 2009 beating death of his 14 month-old daughter was committed to a state mental health unit Wednesday for up to 100 years.

Thomas Jefferson Meece, 48, also was served with paperwork before his court appearance ordering him to have no contact with the child's mother, Renee Frisch. Defense lawyer Jim Tusek said during the placement hearing that Meece has lost telephone privileges at a mental health unit because of calls he made to Frisch.

Escorted to court in restraints, Meece cried as the judge made his ruling based on a recommendation from a state mental health evaluation.

Meece was deemed not guilty by reason of insanity in August.

Judge Robert Freitag explained to Meece that his term of mental health treatment could be 100 years, the same as the prison sentence he faced on the first-degree murder charges.

The court order "doesn't necessarily say you will be committed to 100 years," said Freitag.

Freitag will receive periodic reports on Meece's treatment status. A hearing would be held before any changes were made to the commitment order, said the judge.
[...]
http://www.pantagraph.com/news/loca...cle_4a64033c-29b1-11e0-8393-001cc4c002e0.html
 
It's all said and done, but still no one has seen fit to give a face to the victim here, little Erika Meece. Maybe I am wrong about this, because I know I want to see her and there may be no good reason for it, but if I were the mother and family of this little child, I think I'd want the world to see her. To know she was a human, a lovely baby, real and loved. Not just a faceless object that got broken by a psycho. Attorneys know this is important, to humanize the victim and put her there before the jury. Why is there no picture of her?
 
100 years in a mental hospital is great! I hope he stays there forever – but I have the sinking, sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that tells me this fucker is going to try to say he is “all better” within the next 12 to 24 months and some idiot shrink will concur that this asshat has been miraculously “cured” through the miracles of modern medicine. I hope I am wrong but I doubt I am.
 
It's all said and done, but still no one has seen fit to give a face to the victim here, little Erika Meece. Maybe I am wrong about this, because I know I want to see her and there may be no good reason for it, but if I were the mother and family of this little child, I think I'd want the world to see her. To know she was a human, a lovely baby, real and loved. Not just a faceless object that got broken by a psycho. Attorneys know this is important, to humanize the victim and put her there before the jury. Why is there no picture of her?
Because all the important people already know what she looked like and who she was. :noidea: The general public's wishes are probably not that important to those that knew her.
 
From October 8, 2019

For the first time in a decade, Thomas Meece is able to walk outside into the fresh air without a chaperone and plan for his future.
But with the freedom Meece gained after his recent move from a state mental hospital to a transitional living center in Springfield comes his obligation to prove to authorities that he has recovered from the severe mental illness that lead to the death of his 14-month-old daughter. Meece was found not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI) in the 2009 beating death of Erika Meece at his Bloomington home.
Thomas Meece, also known as Jeff, petitioned for conditional release during his time at the state’s largest mental health hospital in Elgin. The process took several years and multiple court proceedings as medical reports and recommendations related to Meece’s progress were reviewed in McLean County court.
Dressed in a gray suit and showing signs he had moved into his mid-50s, Meece was hopeful each time he came to court with his lawyer Hal Jennings that his petition would move forward. At a hearing in July, Judge Casey Costigan approved Meece’s conditional release.


The judge cautioned Meece that any reports of non-compliance with conditions could mean another trip to the courtroom and reversal of the release.
“What happened was a terrible tragedy. I really loved my baby. That’s what I want to tell you,” Meece told Costigan through sobs.


The judge noted a doctor’s opinion that Meece “acted in a delusional manner” when he killed his daughter. “His mental illness is in remission at this time. There’s a low risk of relapse and he’s not a danger to himself or others at this point in time,” the judge said at the July hearing.

With his hand on Meece’s shoulder, Jennings told the judge, “I take as much pride in what he’s accomplished as any client in my 49 years.”
In a phone interview last week with WGLT, Meece said he is adjusting to the new phase of his life outside a state hospital.
"I'm going to continue to take my medication and do what the doctors tell me."
“I think I feel better than I’ve felt in my whole life. I’m calmer. I’m a better person. I’m going to continue to take my medication and do what the doctors tell me,” said Meece.

Never far from his thoughts, however, is the lingering pain of his psychotic breakdown on Aug. 20, 2009.

“I probably hurt as much as anybody because she was my daughter. But what happened was not me. I covered up my mental illness with alcohol and drugs,” said Meece.
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