Son's death from starvation puts Corry's mother in prison for life and more

Lina Portman4 weeks ago

1 3 minutes read

Kayle R. Mealy, 24, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for starving her 2-year-old son, Bryson, to death in their Corry apartment in January 2021.
Judge John J. Mead sentenced Mealy to an additional 10 to 20 years for his first-degree felony conviction of endangering the welfare of a child.
The jury found Mealy guilty on February 14, following a two-day trial.

Kayle R. Mealy hoped the photos would generate sympathy.

His attorney showed them Friday to an Erie County Common Pleas Court judge.

The judge examined them as he prepared to sentence Mealy, 24, for his first-degree murder conviction for leaving his 2-year-old son, Bryson, to starve to death in their Corry apartment in January 2021.

The photos showed Mealy and Bryson together at local fairs. They were smiling.

The photos didn't help Mealy.

They failed to overcome the emotional impact of the evidence filed against her at trial – including police photos of a naked and emaciated Bryson dead on the ground.

Judge John J. Mead sentenced Mealy to life in prison without the possibility of parole – the mandatory sentence for a conviction of first-degree murder, a premeditated killing.

Mead went further.

At the request of District Attorney Elizabeth Hirz, who prosecuted the case, he sentenced Mealy to an additional 10 to 20 years for his first-degree felony conviction of endangering the welfare of a child.

Mead gave Mealy the maximum sentence for that charge. He also made the 10 to 20 years consecutive rather than concurrent with the life sentence.

“There really is no greater responsibility as human beings than to take care of our children,” Mead told Mealy, sobbing.

A sentence of life in prison plus additional time, Mead said, “should be imposed in this situation.”

Mealy's court-appointed attorney, Bruce Sandmeyer, told Mead that Mealy plans to appeal. In her brief comments to the judge, Mealy said she disagreed with the verdict.

She said she could understand why a jury might find her guilty of negligence, but she said she never intended to murder her son. She said she longed to “go back and do it all again.”

“I’m sorry,” Mealy said.

Defense wanted mom convicted of negligence

The jury deliberated only an hour before convicting Mealy on February 14, following a two-day trial. Mealy did not testify.

Sandmeyer argued for a verdict of third-degree murder, an unlawful killing committed with malice and extreme disregard for human life, or involuntary manslaughter, an unlawful killing due to gross negligence. Either verdict would have spared Mealy a life sentence.

Hirz argued for premeditation. Mealy's refusal to give her son food and water – her abrogation of every parent's innate responsibility – proved that she intended to kill Bryson. Hirz presented evidence that Mealy spent hours sending sexually explicit photos to a boyfriend while Bryson was upstairs in a feces-stained crib, screaming in starvation pain.

“He was completely ignored by the person who was supposed to care for him the most,” Hirz said. “She’s not a mother.”

Bryson was born on October 29, 2018, when Kayle Mealy was 18 years old. He was found dead in the apartment he shared with his mother in the 200 block of Chord Road in Corry on January 20, 2021, when she was 21 years old.

Bryson weighed just over 21 pounds, 8 pounds less than he weighed during a doctor's visit about a month earlier. His stomach and intestines were empty, according to an autopsy.

The cause of death was “nutritional deprivation – starvation accompanied by dehydration,” Erie County Medical Examiner Dr. Eric Vey said at the trial.

Police charged Mealy in March 2022 after a lengthy investigation into Bryson's death.

'Her screams went unanswered,' DA told judge

Mealy had sole legal custody of her son. The father, William Hoffman, had visitation rights. Bryson stayed with his father's family every other weekend, then returned to his mother's apartment, according to trial testimony.

Kayle Mealy told police after her son's death that she did not give him food or drink for 19 hours until she found him dead in his crib and called 911 shortly after 2:10 p.m. January 20, 2021.

Hirz presented evidence that Mealy was constantly on his cell phone during those 19 hours, sending sexually explicit text messages and photographs to a man Mealy nicknamed “Cutie” who lived in the American South. Hirz said Mealy wanted to engage in “sexting” with the man and playing video games rather than caring for her son.

At sentencing, Hirz asked Mead to consider Bryson's “fear and confusion” as he cried out for a mother who never came to see him.

“He didn’t have anyone,” Hirz said. “Her cries went unanswered.”

Sandmeyer, Mealy's lawyer, raised the defense of negligence – and he showed the photographs to the judge.

“Although this is a homicide case, Ms. Mealy is not a killer,” Sandmeyer said. “She loved her son very much. It's something that torments her and will stay with her for the rest of her life: the way he died.”

Hirz did not present any photos during sentencing. She presented photos of Bryson at the trial, dead and skeletal from malnutrition.

Hirz asked Mead to add time to Mealy's life sentence.

The additional time, Hirz said, is needed “to capture the shocking depth of depravity and wickedness displayed by this woman toward her child.”

Lina Portman

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