A couple in Pennsylvania has learned their fates after they were arrested for working together to fatally beat the woman’s 18-month-old daughter.
Li’Aziah Thomas was found dead on the floor of her mom’s home in Chester on January 20, 2021, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by the Delaware County Daily Times. At the time, she was “cold to the touch, did not have a pulse and exhibited rigor mortis in her extremities.”
Police reported to the home after a witness heard the girl’s mother, Kandie Meinhart, call Li’Aziah’s dad and tell him, “Your b**** is dead.” Meinhart, 34, then allegedly added that she and her boyfriend, Maurice Davis, fatally beat the child.
On Friday, May 22, Davis, 34, was sentenced to serve 24 and a half to 50 years in prison for his involvement in Thomas’ killing. He received his sentence after he pleaded no contest to aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of a child and conspiracy to commit third-degree murder.
Davis was sentenced nearly two years after Meinhart received a 30 to 60 year sentence in July 2024 after she pleaded guilty to the same charges, as well as an additional third-degree murder charge.
Meinhart previously admitted that her final blow killed Thomas, though prosecutors argued that Davis was also responsible because he beat and weakened the little girl prior to her death.
“The weakening of this poor baby due to the defendant’s actions and his ongoing actions, allowing Kandie Meinhart to do what she did and remaining in that conspiracy, is why we’re here today,” Delaware County First Assistant District Attorney Kristen Kemp told the court during Davis’ sentencing, per The Philadelphia Inquirer. “And it’s why instead of being a 6-year-old who is about to finish her first-grade year, Li’Aziah Thomas is in a box in the home of her family.”
Court documents indicated that Thomas was likely dead for four to five hours before police were called to the scene, according to Delco Times. Thomas died from blunt-force trauma, which caused lacerations to her liver and right adrenal gland and damaged blood vessels in the bowel that caused her to suffer from internal bleeding.
When police arrived at the home, Thomas was found with bruises and knuckle marks that covered the sides of her body and buttocks.
During the sentencing hearing, Davis’ defense attorney reportedly said that Meinhart was “the devil.”
“I think that’s one thing the commonwealth and I can agree on,” attorney Michael Malloy said while reflecting on the young girl’s death, per The Inquirer. “Her actions are just hard to understand.”
Malloy also alleged that Meinhart was abusive with her daughter before she met and started dating Davis, per the outlet.
Davis and Meinhart lived with three other children at the time of Thomas’ death, and prosecutors claimed that they abused all of them as well.
During the trial, Davis was also accused of punching the children in their chests. He also allegedly dangled one of them over a staircase.
Davis issued an apology at the sentencing hearing, saying he wishes he “could really tell you what happened” but “can’t.”
“I understand y’all have a job to do. [Thomas] needs justice, but at end of the day I’m going through it, too,” he said.
