Jury acts swiftly and convicts Corry mom of first-degree murder in son's starvation death

Erie County District Attorney Elizabeth Hirz referred to the natural order of things as she argued that a 24-year-old Corry woman intended to starve her 2-year-old son to death in January 2021.

The defendant, Kayle M. Mealy, had the inherent responsibility as a mother to care for her son, to make sure he at least has enough to eat and drink, Hirz said.

"She's a mom," Hirz told the jury on Wednesday in her closing argument at Mealy's trial. "She knew."

The 2-year-old, Bryson Mealy, "dies at the person most responsible for his protection," Hirz said.

"It is a basic human instinct to feed your child — any child," Hirz said.

The jury agreed.

After hearing two days of testimony and deliberating an hour on Wednesday, the panel of eight women and four men convicted Kayle Mealy of first-degree murder, a premeditated killing.

Mealy was also found guilty of the all the other charges against her: aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of a child and recklessly endangering another person.

Slain boy's mom sobbed after verdict read

Mealy, who has been in the Erie County Prison since her arrest in March 2022, faces a mandatory term of life in state prison without the possibility of parole when she is sentenced on April 23. Judge John J. Mead, who presided over the case in Erie County Common Pleas Court, could give Mealy additional time for her conviction on the other three charges.

Mealy did not testify and the defense called no witnesses. Mealy sobbed as she was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs moments after the verdict was read at 5:20 p.m. During the trial, Mealy frequently held her head in her hands and sobbed as she heard testimony about the death of her son.

Mealy's court-appointed lawyer, Bruce Sandmeyer, had urged the jury to convict Mealy of third-degree murder, an unlawful killing with malice and extreme disregard for human life, or involuntary manslaughter, an unlawful killing due to gross negligence. Either of those verdicts would have spared Mealy a life sentence.

In his closing argument, Sandmeyer countered Hirz's description of Mealy as a killer who displayed "a unique kind of coldness" and who wanted to rid herself of her son because she did not want to be a mother. Sandmeyer characterized Mealy as a lonely and overwhelmed young single mother who lacked the ability or resources to care for her son.

"What she went through from the beginning was an American nightmare," Sandmeyer said.

Forensic pathologist testifies about boy's starvation

Bryson Mealy, born on Oct. 29, 2018, when Kayle Mealy was 18, was found dead inside his and his mother's apartment on in the 200 block of Chord Road in Corry on Jan. 20, 2021, when she was 21. The conditions in the apartment were "deplorable" — a word both Hirz and Sandmeyer used — and Bryson's crib was smeared with feces.

After his mother called 911, Corry police found Bryson naked and emaciated, with sunken eyes and hip bones and lower ribs that jutted from his body.

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

The cause of death was "nutritional deprivation — starvation with dehydration," Erie County's forensic pathologist, Eric Vey, M.D., testified on Wednesday.

Vey's testimony provided the medical evidence that showed Bryson was starved over a period of days or weeks.

Evidence also showed that Bryson was fed while he was at his father's house, the weekend of Jan. 8-11, 2021, but the nourishment he received there was not enough to ensure his survival after he returned to his mother's apartment and did not get enough to eat or drink.

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

"She and only she was responsible for him," Hirz said in her closing argument.

Hirz said after the trial ended: "We are very thankful for the jury's verdict. It was a difficult case with a lot of emotion."

'This is murder,' DA tells jury of boy's starvation death

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

Hirz presented evidence that Mealy during those 19 hours was constantly on her cellphone, sending sexually explicit text messages and photographs to a man Mealy nicknamed "Cutie" and who lived in the southern United States. Hirz said Mealy wanted to engage in "sexting" with the man and play video games rather than care for her son.

"It's not that she is overwhelmed," Hirz said in her closing argument. "She is bored. She wants to live her best life."

"Bryson didn't do anything other than need his mom," Hirz said, and his mom "made the conscious decision not to deal with him anymore."

"This child did not get food," Hirz said. "This child did not get water. This is murder."

Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNpalattella.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Corry mom convicted of first-degree murder in son's starvation death