Kane Dane
The 20-year-old father is booked after killing his 9-month-old baby with a blow to the face
Anthony Lamont Meriwether first claimed that the child had been hit by a bullet from a passing car, but later admitted the gun “fired” while holding it, Louisville Courier Press reported.
The girl, Iowa Meriwether, died of a single gunshot wound to the head. Her father was accused of abandoning an employee, which led to her death.
According to affidavits, Meriwether of Henderson, Kentucky took her daughter with her to visit a friend in Evansville, Indiana, about 12 miles from the Ohio River.
A witness revealed the whole incidence
Meriwether and her friend, identified as witnesses in the affidavit, sat on the sofa playing video games, while little Iowa sat on the floor in her car seat. The witness told police he kept a loaded gun between the sofa cushions. He said that at some point he had gone upstairs, leaving Meriwether below.
The witness said he heard a shot when he went up the stairs and immediately ran back downstairs where he saw his gun on the floor next to Meriwether, who, he said, had a “confused expression”. The witness said he pulled out a gun and raised it to stare at it and saw blood come out of the baby’s head when Meriwether picked it up when he returned.
Both men went out with the baby and the neighbor called the emergency services.
The father confessed to shooting his daughter
When police arrived, Meriwether told them she was out with a baby in her arms when she was hit by a stray bullet from a passing car, sources reported. The police cleared the apartment and ransacked it, finding a cartridge case in the bathroom. Police said Meriwether later claimed to hide the gun in the sofa cushions and pulled it out before shooting.
The county coroner declared the death a homicide.
