Three other children were living in the home when 18-month-old Li’Aziah Thomas died from blunt-force trauma.
MEDIA, Pa. — A Delaware County sentencing hearing for Maurice Davis focused not only on the fatal beating of 18-month-old Li’Aziah Thomas, but also on prosecutors’ claims that abuse reached other children in the Chester home.
Davis, 34, was sentenced to 24 1/2 to 50 years in prison after pleading no contest to aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of a child and conspiracy to commit third-degree murder. Prosecutors said he helped Kandie Meinhart, Li’Aziah’s mother, abuse the toddler before her death on Jan. 20, 2021. Meinhart, also 34, was sentenced in July 2024 to 30 to 60 years after pleading guilty to third-degree murder and related charges. Together, the sentences place both adults in prison for decades.
The sentencing record widened the view of the case beyond Li’Aziah’s final injuries. Prosecutors said three other children were living with Davis and Meinhart in the Pine Lane apartment when Li’Aziah died. They said those children were also abused. Davis was accused of punching children in the chest and dangling one child over a staircase. Delaware County Court Judge Kevin F. Kelly barred Davis from being left alone with or living with anyone under age 16 after prison, a restriction that reflected the court’s concern about future contact with children.
Li’Aziah’s death was discovered after police and paramedics responded around 11 a.m. to a report of a child in cardiac arrest at Meinhart’s home on the 900 block of Pine Lane in Chester. Officers found the toddler on the floor. Meinhart was giving CPR, but police said the child was already cold, had no pulse and had signs of rigor mortis. Investigators later said Li’Aziah was likely dead for several hours before authorities were called. That gap became one of the central facts in a case that depended on medical timing and the accounts of the adults in the apartment.
Medical examiners determined that Li’Aziah died from blunt-force trauma. The injuries included lacerations to her liver and right adrenal gland and damage to blood vessels in her bowel, causing internal bleeding. Investigators also documented bruises and knuckle marks on the sides of her body and buttocks. Court records said some injuries appeared older than the fatal trauma, suggesting that the child was hurt before the final blows. Prosecutors said Davis and Meinhart were the only caretakers during the time when those injuries were believed to have occurred.
The prosecution’s theory separated the final act from the broader course of abuse. Meinhart admitted delivering the final blow that killed Li’Aziah. First Assistant District Attorney Kristen Kemp told the court that Davis still bore responsibility because he beat the child and remained part of the abuse. “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,” Kemp said. She said Li’Aziah should have been finishing first grade instead of being remembered through a criminal case.
Davis’ defense sought to draw a sharp line between his conduct and Meinhart’s. Defense attorney Michael Malloy described Meinhart as “the devil” and said her actions were hard to understand. He argued that Meinhart had been abusive before meeting Davis and said Davis should not be treated as the person who caused the toddler’s death. The court record, however, showed that Davis entered no-contest pleas to charges tied directly to the child’s injuries and to a conspiracy to commit third-degree murder. The judge sentenced him as a participant, not as a witness.
The case also included a call that prosecutors and witnesses said captured the cruelty around the child’s death. A witness told police that Meinhart called Li’Aziah’s father after police were summoned and said, “Your b— is dead.” The father and grandmother were present for Davis’ sentencing, where he apologized but continued to deny full responsibility. “I understand y’all have a job to do,” Davis said. “Li’Aziah needs justice, but at end of the day I’m going through it, too.” His statement did not resolve the factual dispute between the defense and prosecution over the full extent of his role.
Authorities first filed homicide and related charges against Meinhart and Davis in June 2021, after the medical examiner ruled Li’Aziah’s death a homicide and investigators reviewed the timeline. The charges came more than five months after the toddler died. Both adults were accused of lying to police about their locations and involvement. The early counts included criminal homicide, first-degree murder, third-degree murder, endangering the welfare of a child and other offenses. The cases later resolved through pleas rather than a full trial verdict.
The legal outcomes now split responsibility between Meinhart’s admitted final blow and Davis’ admitted exposure to sentencing through no-contest pleas. Meinhart’s 30- to 60-year sentence reflected her guilty plea to murder and conspiracy. Davis’ 24 1/2- to 50-year sentence reflected the court’s finding that he helped create the conditions that led to Li’Aziah’s death. The child-contact restriction added another consequence, keeping the focus on the other children prosecutors said were harmed or endangered in the same home.
The latest court action leaves Davis under a decades-long prison sentence and barred from unsupervised contact with young people after release, while Meinhart continues serving the sentence imposed in July 2024.
Author note: Last updated June 22, 2026.