Left to right: Kandie Meinhart, Maurice Davis (George W. Hill Correctional Facility).
A Pennsylvania man is headed to prison after he helped his girlfriend murder her 18-month-old daughter, who was found dead with knuckle marks all over her body and lacerations to her adrenal gland and liver from being hit so hard.
Li'Aziah Thomas "was cold to the touch, did not have a pulse and exhibited rigor mortis in her extremities" when cops found her on the floor of her mom's home in Chester on Jan. 20, 2021, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by the Delaware County Daily Times.
After police were called to the home, a witness heard the mother, Kandie Meinhart, call Li'Aziah's dad and tell him, "Your b— is dead," after she and her boyfriend, Maurice Davis, fatally beat her.
Davis, 34, was sentenced last week to 24 1/2 to 50 years in prison for taking part in the killing after he pleaded no contest to aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of a child, and conspiracy to commit third-degree murder. Meinhart, 34, received a 30- to 60-year sentence in July 2024 after she pleaded guilty to the same charges, as well as third-degree murder.
While Meinhart admitted to delivering the final blow that killed Li'Aziah, prosecutors said Davis also beat and weakened the little girl inside the apartment they shared.
"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 at Davis' sentencing, according to 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," Kemp said.
Court records obtained by the Delco Times say Li'Aziah was likely dead for four to five hours before police were called to the couple's apartment. She died from blunt-force trauma, which caused lacerations to her liver and right adrenal gland, and damaged blood vessels in the bowel, resulting in internal bleeding.
Li'Aziah had bruises and knuckle marks on the sides of her body and buttocks. Davis' own defense attorney described Meinhart as "the devil" at his sentencing.
"I think that's one thing the commonwealth and I can agree on," attorney Michael Malloy said, as he blamed Meinhart for Li'Aziah's death. "Her actions are just hard to understand," Malloy told the court, alleging that Meinhart was abusive prior to meeting Davis, according to The Inquirer.
Three other children were living in the home with Davis and Meinhart at the time of Li'Aziah's death, with prosecutors saying they abused them as well. Davis was accused of punching the children in their chests and dangling one of them over a staircase.
"I really am sorry," Davis told the court during his sentencing. "I wish I could really tell you what happened, but I can't," he said. "I understand y'all have a job to do. [Li'Aziah] needs justice, but at end of the day I'm going through it, too."