Who killed Meka Ducheneaux? Missouri woman gets 30 years of jail for killing toddler

The woman, who had earlier pleaded guilty to murder and child abuse, will be eligible for parole after serving 25 years

PUBLISHED DEC 8, 2021

As per an autopsy, there were several blunt force injuries on Meka (GoFundMe)

CASS COUNTY, MISSOURI: A North Dakota woman has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for brutally abusing and murdering the toddler of a family friend who was left in her care in 2020. A Cass County District Court judge on Monday, December 6, sentenced 38-year-old Brandi Adeleke to prison. Adeleke, who had earlier pleaded guilty to murder and child abuse, will be eligible for parole after serving 25 years.

“She was a good baby. There was no reason why she… She loved hugs and kisses. She would give hugs and kisses all the time,” Meka Ducheneaux's aunt Amanda Carrillo had earlier said, according to Valley News Live. “What did my niece do to you, but love you? She loved you so much. What did she do to you to make you so mad? And why didn’t you bring her home? When did you stop loving her?”

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"I don't understand how you can take the life of an innocent child, and what she could have done so badly that made you hurt her," Amanda Carrillo said. "I feel pain every time I walk through my door because there's something missing. I feel pain every time I hear my kids laugh because there's a little laughter missing."

Carillo said at the time of the murder, Adelek had come over and calmly told her that Meka was in the hospital. Carillo immediately assumed it was due to Covid-19. “I get to the hospital, and it was like walking through a crime scene,” Carillo said. “It was like what you only see on TV. I saw the rulers that you measure bruises on. I looked at Brandi and said, ‘What did you do to my niece?’ And she said, ‘She’s just sick! She’s just sick, Amanda. She’s fine. She’s going to be fine!’ And I said, ‘This doesn’t look like fine!’”

As per an autopsy, there were several blunt force injuries on Meka. At one point, Adeleke gave the toddler a bath and then left her attended, leading to the child going underwater for a while. “First off, how high did you have the bath water? Second off, my niece knew how to sit down, she was already over a year. So I don’t believe that, not even a little bit,” Carillo said. A GoFundMe page set up by Carrillo says that Meka had been "horribly abused, burned with chemicals, given alcohol, battered, and raped."