Maurice Davis received 24 1/2 to 50 years after pleading no contest in the death of 18-month-old Li’Aziah Thomas.

MEDIA, Pa. — A Pennsylvania man was sentenced to 24 1/2 to 50 years in prison after prosecutors said he helped his girlfriend fatally abuse her 18-month-old daughter inside a Chester apartment in 2021.

Maurice Davis, 34, pleaded no contest to aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of a child and conspiracy to commit third-degree murder in the death of Li’Aziah Thomas. His sentencing followed the earlier conviction of the child’s mother, Kandie Meinhart, 34, who pleaded guilty and received a 30- to 60-year sentence in July 2024. The case left both adults in the home facing decades in prison and put a new focus on what prosecutors described as a pattern of abuse inside the apartment.

Davis was sentenced May 20 by Delaware County Court Judge Kevin F. Kelly, who also barred him from being left alone with or living with anyone under age 16. First Assistant District Attorney Kristen Kemp told the court that Davis did not deliver the final fatal blow but still played a direct role in the violence that left the toddler unable to survive. “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 told the court that Li’Aziah would have been a 6-year-old nearing the end of first grade if she were alive.

The case began Jan. 20, 2021, when police and paramedics were called to the 900 block of Pine Lane in Chester for a report of an 18-month-old child in cardiac arrest. Officers found Li’Aziah on the floor of her mother’s home. According to the arrest affidavit, the toddler was cold to the touch, had no pulse and showed signs of rigor mortis in her extremities. Police said Meinhart was performing CPR when officers arrived. Investigators later said the child had likely been dead for hours before anyone called for help, turning the emergency call into a homicide investigation.

Medical findings became central to the prosecution. Authorities said Li’Aziah died from blunt-force trauma that caused lacerations to her liver and right adrenal gland and damaged blood vessels in her bowel. The injuries led to internal bleeding. Investigators also noted bruises and knuckle marks on the sides of her body and buttocks. Court records said some injuries were older than the final trauma and appeared to have been inflicted hours before the fatal blows. Prosecutors said Davis and Meinhart were the only caretakers with the child during the time window when those injuries occurred.

One of the starkest details in the case came from a witness who told police they heard Meinhart call Li’Aziah’s father after police were summoned and say, “Your b— is dead.” That call became part of the record prosecutors used to describe the response inside the home after the toddler’s death. Authorities accused both adults of lying to investigators about where they were and what happened. Davis later said in court that he was sorry, but he continued to distance himself from Meinhart’s actions. “I wish I could really tell you what happened, but I can’t,” Davis said. “Li’Aziah needs justice, but at end of the day I’m going through it, too.”

Defense attorney Michael Malloy argued that Meinhart bore the main blame for Li’Aziah’s death and described her in court as “the devil.” Malloy said Meinhart’s conduct was hard to understand and argued that she had been abusive before she met Davis. Prosecutors rejected any attempt to treat Davis as a bystander, saying he remained in the home, took part in the abuse and allowed the violence to continue. Meinhart admitted delivering the final blow that killed the child, but the prosecution said Davis’ earlier assaults weakened Li’Aziah and made the final assault deadly.

The allegations extended beyond Li’Aziah. Prosecutors said three other children were living in the home with Davis and Meinhart when the toddler died. They said those children were also abused. Davis was accused of punching children in the chest and dangling one child over a staircase. Those claims helped shape the judge’s order barring Davis from unsupervised contact with children under 16 after prison. The order underscored the court’s finding that the danger in the home was not limited to one incident or one child.

Meinhart and Davis were arrested months after Li’Aziah’s death, after investigators reviewed medical findings, witness statements and the accounts given by the adults in the home. Both were first charged with homicide and related offenses. Meinhart later pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, conspiracy to commit third-degree murder and child endangerment. Davis avoided a trial by entering no-contest pleas to his charges. A no-contest plea is not an admission of guilt, but it allows a court to sentence a defendant as if the person were convicted.

The sentencing leaves Davis and Meinhart serving long prison terms while Li’Aziah’s relatives live with the record of a case that took more than five years to reach its latest stage. Davis’ sentence was imposed May 20, 2026, and Meinhart’s sentence was imposed in July 2024.

Author note: Last updated June 22, 2026.