
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, June 2, 1990                   TAG: 9006020109
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

BIRTH FOLLOWS BEATING

A Southeast Roanoke teen-ager has told police she was beaten by her husband and his brother one day before she delivered a premature baby boy by Cesarean section.

The brother-in-law, Jack K. Meador, 19, of the 500 block of Albemarle Avenue Southeast, was charged Thursday with assault and battery.

The husband has not been charged.

The woman told authorities that two men jumped out of a car about 10:30 p.m. on May 19, beat her in the face, threw her to the ground and kicked her in the stomach.

The 17-year-old was seven months pregnant.

Police said the beating was alleged to have occurred following a domestic dispute.

The woman was forced to give birth the next day at Roanoke Memorial Hospital after the baby's life was threatened by medical complications, police said.

The baby boy weighed 3 pounds, 14 ounces. He was in the intensive care unit at the hospital but is expected to survive.

Police said it is too early to tell if the baby will suffer any long-term effects from the premature delivery.

Medical officials told police it is impossible to determine whether the beating prompted the need for the forced delivery.

Meador is scheduled for arraignment Monday in Roanoke Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. A spokesman at Roanoke City Jail said Meador had been released on bond Friday afternoon.

by CNB