Kansas teen sentenced to life for killing mom’s friend with bat after attempting to 'scare' her
10/13/2022 2:18 pm PDT
TOPEKA, Kansas (TCD) -- A teen was sentenced to life in prison this week for killing his friend’s mother with a baseball bat in April 2021.
Shawnee County Court records show Amadeus Courage Ballou-Meyer pleaded guilty to first-degree intentional and premeditated murder in July. If released, Ballou-Meyer will be under supervision for the rest of his life.
According to WBIW-TV, on April 24, 2021, Topeka Police Department officers went to a home on the 2000 block of SW James Street after a 16-year-old called to say he found his mother deceased in their garage. The victim, 46-year-old Hester Workman, reportedly suffered trauma to the head.
Camera footage reportedly showed Ballou-Meyer leaving Workman’s home with a baseball bat. Ballou-Meyer reportedly confessed to killing Workman, saying he wanted to "scare" her by sneaking into her home and pushing her. She fell backward on the steps at her home and hit her head.
When she fell, Ballou-Meyer reportedly hit her with the baseball bat.
WIBW reports Ballou-Meyer got rid of the bat in a nearby creek, but a resident found it and gave it to police.
He was initially indicted as a juvenile, but the Shawnee County district attorney ultimately received permission to charge him as an adult.
Ballou-Meyer must serve 50 years in prison before he is eligible for parole.
According to her obituary, Workman worked as a legal support staff supervisor for the Kansas State Board of Healing Arts and loved "waterparks, watching crime and medical shows, puzzles, reading and her beloved dog, Peanut."
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