Investigation Of Toddler's Murder In Maplewood Continues
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – The Maplewood Police Chief says it's one of the worst cases of child abuse, he's seen.
The suspect, 35-year-old Leb Meak is charged with second degree murder in the death of his girlfriend's 18-month-old girl. Police found the child, not breathing, in Meak's home Thursday.
Maplewood Police Chief Paul Schnell has been in law enforcement for more than 20 years, and that cases like this, involving such a young child, are the most difficult.
When paramedics arrived to the house, they found bruises on the little girls stomach and chest, and a large bruise on her face.
Schnell says it appears the abuse had gone on for quite some time.
"It's unimaginable to think about what this little girl went through," Schnell said.
When police asked Meak about the bruises on the body of the 18-month-old girl, he told them she had fallen onto a space heater.
"The bruises were some were very fresh and some were a bit older" Schnell said.
According to the criminal complaint, Meak did say he had "roughed her up little bit" when he was changing the toddler's diaper.
Police say the girl, who is not Meak's biological child, had been staying with him for over two weeks while the child's mother -- Meak's girlfriend -- lived in Farmington.
"You can't get involved in things like this because it's unexplainable," Schnell said. "There is nothing that this little girl could have ever done to warrant the level of abuse she had to face."
Paramedics tried to revive the toddler at the home but were unsuccessful.
Schnell says the little girl's death is a reminder to be aware of potential child abuse.
"There is nothing we can do to fix what happened here," he said. "We can start to think about and use the tragedy that happened to this little girl to try and make a difference for someone else"
Police said Meak lived with his parents; his father was the only one home at the time when the child was found dead.
Meak's own children are in child protective custody.
Investigators say they'll be looking into why the child was in Meak's primary custody.
They also say the mother could face charges too, but nothing has been officially filed so far.
