Trial begins for Lenze, Meador
Several witnesses testified Wednesday morning in the child neglect trial of two Newton parents, who have been charged with the class C felony in connection with their 1-year-old son’s death in 2008.
The combined trial of 25-year-old Jessica Lenze and 27-year-old Alan Meador began Wednesday at the Jasper County Courthouse. Both have been charged with neglect of a dependent person in the death of Domanic Xzavier Meador, who was found dead on his first birthday on Jan. 20, 2008, as a result of dehydration, according to court records.
In lieu of a jury trial, Lenze and Meador opted for a bench trial, and Judge Gregory A. Hulse is hearing the case. Both defendants have pleaded not guilty.
Prosecuting attorney Scott Nicholson called Kenneth White Sr. as the first witness on Wednesday morning. White was a neighbor of the couple at the time of the child’s death, and he testified about what he remembered of Jan. 20, 2008.
“I heard a loud bang on the door, and it really shocked me,” White said. “He (Meador) said he needed to call 911 because his baby wasn’t breathing.”
White said Meador seemed confused, so he took back his cordless phone and made the emergency call as he followed Meador back to his apartment at Northern Lights Apartments, 1024 E. 10th St. N. Apt. 10. White said he performed CPR on the child but testified later that he knew immediately the child was already dead.
Describing the scene during the time he was administering CPR, White said the baby’s diaper was wet and soiled, and his body was sticky from sweat. The boy’s eyes also caught White’s attention, and he noted blood spots in them.
White also testified he let Meador use his phone again to call Lenze, and he heard Meador tell her that Domanic was gone.
“I was shocked, because no one had said that out loud,” White said.
On cross-examination, defense attorney John Billingsley asked White if he remembered paramedics talking with police personnel, and White said yes. When asked if he remembered anyone using the word “gone” in reference to the child, White thought for several seconds and then said he couldn’t remember. White also testified he knew the baby was dead as soon as he saw him but tried CPR anyway.
“I was worried what he (Meador) would do if I said the baby was dead or what would happen to the other child,” White said.
The next witness was retired Newton Police officer David Jones, who also was at the scene on Jan. 20, 2008, after authorities received an emergency call for an unresponsive child. Jones said his role was to guard the room so evidence would not be contaminated. He noted Meador’s other child, a toddler, had a soiled diaper as well, and Jones said he asked Meador to change it.
“I asked him if he would change his diaper, and he said he was frustrated with the situation and he couldn’t do that,” Jones said. “So I ordered him to do it and he did.”
Jones also noted Meador instructed the child to wipe himself clean.
Newton Police officer Ryan Zylstra also arrived at Meador’s apartment on Jan. 20, 2008. Zylstra said he arrived while White was giving CPR and noticed Domanic’s legs had blue streaks on them and that his skin was “cold and clammy, the body stiff and rigid. That indicated to me that he was deceased for some time.”
Zylstra later took a statement from Meador and noted that he seemed calm during the interview. When Lenze arrived at the scene, Zylstra said he felt she also was “unusually calm for the circumstances.”
During cross examination, defense attorney Meegan Keeler said Zylstra’s police report depicted Meador as “upset and crying.” Zylstra said he knew he wrote that in the report, but could not remember that being the case.
Meador and Lenze were charged in connection with the case about a year after Domanic’s death. According to court records, Meador and Lenze had closed all air vents in their apartment except for one in Domanic’s bedroom and set the living room thermostat between 70 and 75 degrees to help him “sweat out” a cold. Tests showed the temperature in Domanic’s room averaged between 90 and 106 degrees, and Lenze also admitted to police that she had not taken Domanic out of his crib for several days, according to court documents.
The trial is expected to continue into next week, with a total of 17 individuals on the prosecution’s witness list.
John Jennings can be contacted at 792-3121 ext. 425 or via e-mail at jjennings@newtondailynews.com.
