Delco Mom Guilty In Killing Of 18-Month-Old Daughter

DELAWARE COUNTY, PA — A Delaware County mother was convicted of third-degree murder and related charges in connection with the 2021 death of her own daughter.

Kandie Meinhart, 34, of Chester, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, conspiracy to commit third-degree murder, and endangering the welfare of a child in a Delaware County court Thursday.

Her boyfriend, Maurice David, 32, also of Chester, is still on trial for similar charges.

The two were accused in 2021 of killing Meinhart's 18-month-old daughter, Li'Aziah Thomas.

According to the affidavits filed against Meinhart and Davis, police were called to Meinhart's Chester home at about 11 a.m. the morning of Jan. 20, 2021 for a report of a child suffering cardiac arrest.

Thomas was on the floor and looked purple, was cold to the touch, had no pulse, and was showing signs of rigor mortis, police said in the affidavit.

Police said a witness in the home said they heard Meinhart on the phone with Thomas's father, saying, "Your b***h is dead."

The Delaware County Medical Examiner's office later determined Thomas suffered multiple blunt force trauma injuries, which led to her liver, renal gland and bowel vessels being lacerated. Those injuries resulted in internal bleeding.

The medical examiner's office determined the injuries occurred between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. that day and that Thomas died between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. that day, hours before police were called to the home.

Additionally, the medical examiner's office found older injuries to Thomas's front and back that occurred four to eight hours before the fatal blows.

Police determined Meinhart and Davis were the sole caretakers of Thomas during those times.

They were also accused of lying to police about where they were when the injuries occurred and their involvement in Thomas's death.

Meinhart was sentenced to 20 to 40 years in prison for the third-degree murder charge, 10 to 20 years for the conspiracy charge, and 2-and-a-half to 5 years for the endangerment charge.