Toulon, IL – A teen mother in Illinois has been accused of leaving her infant alongside a rural road where she remained for twelve hours after the mother told police her baby had been abducted.
Last Thursday, an Amber Alert was issued for 3-week-old Mia Graci Thompson. Her mother, 19-year-old Kendra Meaker, told police that she had left Mia and her 11-month old sister in the car while she walked into a Toulon post office to mail a package. She informed them that it wasn’t until she had already driven away that she noticed Mia was missing.
Sheriff Jimmie Dison said he figured Meaker’s story was bullshit from the beginning, but with no evidence to the contrary, he didn’t have any choice but to request an Amber Alert. It wasn’t until twelve hours later that Meaker finally told the truth and admitted that she drove outside Toulon that morning and placed her daughter on the side of a rural road.
After volunteer searchers were dispatched to the area, Mia was found after a pair of searchers heard her cries. They retrieved Mia from the side of the road and brought her to nearby emergency workers.
Meaker was arrested and charged with endangering the life or health of a child, which is a misdemeanor punishable by one year in jail. But since lying about discarding your baby on the side of the road like trash is more serious than actually doing it, she is looking at one to three years in prison for the felony obstruction of justice charge she was slapped with.
Some were so angered over Meaker’s misdemeanor charge that they started an online petition as well as a Facebook page called ”Justice for Mia.” Both sites are requesting changes in the child endangerment laws and stronger penalties for cases like Meaker’s.
The creator of the Facebook page, Lindsey Blount, said the charges made her sick. ”If we let her walk away with a slap on the wrist, which is pretty much what’s she’s getting, then what kind of message is that going to send to the rest of the world, to moms that don’t feel like doing their job?”
Blount said she is a friend of Mia’s father, Timothy Thompson, and that the baby is at home with her dad. I’m assuming that means Mia is at her grandparents’ house as Meaker and Thompson have been living with Meaker’s parents.
Hey, on the bright side, at least Meaker didn’t choke the kid to death.
Tags: Child Abuse, Child Endangerment, Crime, Illinois, Kendra Meaker
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