JORDAN LEEANN MEADOWS - Hours old (1/2011) - Whytheville/ Pulaski VA

A 21-year-old Wythe County mother accused of
abusing her newborn child, whose body was found inside a cave in
January, entered a plea on Thursday morning that allowed her to maintain
her innocence while conceding that prosecutors had enough evidence for a
conviction.

Twyla Jean and Ashley April Meadows


Ashley April Charlene Meadows of Max Meadows entered what’s known as an
Alford plea to one count of child abuse and was found guilty of the
felony charge that carries a maximum punishment of five years in prison.
Her sentencing, though, was delayed until Jan. 26, 2012.
Meadows’ mother, Twyla Jean Meadows, who testified against her daughter
at an earlier hearing, is set to enter pleas to child abuse and
concealing a body on Dec. 1.
In testimony, she admitted to placing the baby’s body in a cave after
discovering it in a trashcan in her daughter’s room where she gave
birth.
Although an autopsy didn’t reveal how the infant died, it did show that the female child was born alive, a prosecutor said.
http://www.swvatoday.com/news/article/wythe_county_woman_convicted_in_cave_baby_case/11356/

Judge Josiah Showalter Jr. listens to a lot of cases in different communities.

He called the one he heard on Thursday one of the saddest.

“I’ve been dreading this day,” he said before announcing the punishment in a crime that’s frustrated investigators and angered the community.

Convicted of felony child abuse last November in the January 2011 death of her newborn child, 21-year-old Ashley Meadows came to Wythe County Circuit Court on Thursday morning a free woman.

She walked out a prisoner.

After an emotional sentencing hearing where the defendant was the only person to testify, Meadows was given a five-year sentence with three years suspended.

Reading from a piece of yellow legal paper, a tearful Meadows apologized to everyone from her friends, family and church community to the court, police officers and baby -- Jordan LeeAnn -- whose body investigators found underneath a rock in a small roadside cave near Carter’s Park.

“The punishment I receive today can’t be worse than the pain I’ve lived in on a daily basis,” she said.

Although a state medical examiner determined that the baby was born alive, he couldn’t say how the baby died, which led prosecutors to only charge Meadows and her mother, Twyla Meadows, with felony child abuse and concealing a body, a charge that was later dropped against Ashley.

Given an opportunity to finally question Ashley Meadows on the stand, Commonwealth’s Attorney Jerry Mabe pressed her about why she repeatedly lied to police about the baby’s birth and why she didn’t try and get help when she delivered the infant the family’s Max Meadows trailer on a Sunday morning.

Asked why she initially told police that she delivered Jordan in a Walmart bathroom and either flushed the child down a toilet or put her in trashcan, Meadows said, “I was scared.” Mabe said that Ashley’s deceit caused investigators to dig through piles of trash and landfills searching for the infant.

While Twyla Meadows, who has testified against Ashley, has said that she found the baby’s unwashed body on top of a trashcan in her daughter’s room, Ashley Meadows claimed on Thursday that Jordan was alive when she gave her to her mother.

“I kept asking her where it was and she wouldn’t tell me,” Ashley Meadows said.

Twyla Meadows has admitted to storing the baby’s body in an outbuilding before stashing it inside the cave on her way to work as a security guard. Officers found the child about a week later.

Police began questioning the women after getting a tip about Ashley’s pregnancy, which both women hid from Ashley’s father and Twyla’s husband, Donald Meadows.

In testimony on Thursday, Ashley said she didn’t tell her father about the pregnancy because she didn’t want to hurt him and even called off a baby shower at work out of fear that her father would see it. Her attorney, Terri Bowles, also said Donald Meadows had threatened to leave Twyla if Ashley were pregnant.

All three family members went to church later on the same Sunday morning that Ashley, who was still bleeding heavily, delivered Jordan.

After church, they went to Walmart and drove out to Stony Fork campground where Twyla Meadows admitted to throwing out the afterbirth and bloody T-shirt her daughter had on during the delivery. Twyla said she threw out other bloody items in Pulaski County.

Mabe keyed on the cover-up when arguing that Ashley should get the maximum five-year punishment allowed by law – a sentence he called grossly inadequate.

“Why cover it up? It makes no sense,” he said, arguing that Ashley had tons of other better options.

He also contended that Ashley didn’t want the baby, pointing to discussions she’d had about putting the child up for adoption and her failure to continue seeing her doctor from October to January.

“The only way the commonwealth can describe this case…this is a wanton disregard for a helpless baby,” he said.

Bowles, on the other hand, pointed to Ashley’s apology and reiterated her client’s statement that the baby was alive when Twyla took her.

“No one should have to choose between a parent and a child,” Bowles said, adding that Twyla Meadows was the one who stood to lose her marriage and home unless she concealed the birth. “She made some bad decisions and she chose to protect her mother.”

Judge Showalter, however, said that Ashley Meadows did have a choice.

“You had the choice to do the right thing,” he said when giving Ashley more time than called for by state sentencing guidelines. “…Jordan LeeAnn deserved more than what her mother gave her.”

After her release, Ashley Meadows will be on probation for four years.

Her mother is set to enter a plea to her charges on March 8.

http://www2.swvatoday.com/news/2012/feb/23/wythe-woman-sentenced-cave-baby-case-ar-1710927/

Grandmother pleads guilty in Wythe County cave baby case

Published: March 08, 2012


WYTHE COUNT, VA --

A grandmother who admitted to hiding her infant granddaughter’s
body inside a tiny Wythe County cave pleaded guilty to that charge on
Thursday morning as the commonwealth dropped another charge accusing her
of child abuse.

Twyla Jean Meadows, who pleaded guilty to the January 2011 felony
concealing a body charge, faces up to five years in prison and a
possible fine when she’s sentenced on June 4.

Based on evidence presented on Thursday and at earlier hearings, the
61-year-old Max Meadows resident said she put Jordan LeeAnn in the
Carter’s Park cave after her daughter, Ashley Meadows, gave birth to
the child inside the trailer they shared.

Last month, 21-year-old Ashley Meadows, who gave investigators
several different versions of what happened to the baby, was given a
three-year sentence for child abuse and claimed that the infant was
alive when she gave her to Twyla Meadows.

Twyla Meadows, though, said she found the child’s lifeless body in a
trashcan in Ashley’s room where she had the baby one Sunday morning.

After wrapping the body in a T-Shirt and putting the baby in a box,
Twyla Meadows put the box inside an outbuilding and left it there as
the entire family attended church.

Early the next day, Twyla Meadows stopped at the Carter’s Park cave
on her way to work as a security guard at Volvo and, with a flashlight
in hand, placed the cloth-wrapped infant inside a crevice, put a rock
on her head and scooped dirt onto the corpse, according to summarized
evidence on Thursday.

In earlier testimony, Twyla Meadows said she orchestrated the
cover-up to protect her husband, who suffers from depression, and to
avoid public scrutiny of her daughter’s unwed pregnancy.

She will remain free on bond to give probation officers time to
prepare a pre-sentence report that will detail her past and help a
judge decide her punishment.

http://www2.wsls.com/news/2012/mar/08/grandmother-pleads-guilty-wythe-county-cave-baby-c-ar-1751278/

this is ridiculous!!!!

Both those POS baby killers belong in jail with a life sentence. I think Twyla may have killed the baby as she seemed more concerned about covering it up. I can't believe what light sentences they are getting. You are right flash...this is ridiculous.

What would have been their sentences had they murdered an adult in the same fashion? Many judges don't value a baby's life any more than their parents do. A sad commentary on our society.

babyjustice wrote:Both those POS baby killers belong in jail with a life sentence. I think Twyla may have killed the baby as she seemed more concerned about covering it up. I can't believe what light sentences they are getting. You are right flash...this is ridiculous.

She'll probably get an even lighter sentence than her daughter.

I'm reeling from all the grandmothers that have been murdering their grandchildren lately.

GRANDMOTHERS!!!! My mom is easier on my kids than she ever was on me and my siblings.

Twink, i agree. My mom lets my son and the other grandchildren get by with much more than she let me and my sisters.