Mother of 18-Month-Old Found Dead in Alpine Motor Home Testifies Against Boyfriend

The child's mother testified that she and her boyfriend often did drugs while the toddler was present.

The mother of an 18-month-old found dead in an Alpine motorhome gave graphic testimony against her daughter's alleged killer in court Thursday.

In the days before 18-month-old Leah Brown-Meza's death, she suffered severe and extensive brain bleeding, a broken arm and a burn to the bottom of her foot, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office.

The child's mother, Lillie Brown, said in court that she was high on meth at the time she found her daughter suffering from those injuries.

She said that she pleaded with her boyfriend, Wiliey Foster, to take her baby to the hospital but said Foster wouldn't allow it, saying that doctors would think she abused her daughter and have the child taken away.

Brown testified that also that she and Foster often did drugs in and out of their home, including at times when Leah was present.

The night before Leah's body was discovered, Foster told Brown that he had put Leah to bed in the motorhome and then spent some time playing video games in the main house where his own child slept, according to San Diego County Sheriff's Department (SDSO) homicide investigators.

According to prosecutors, Brown returned home that night and went straight to bed without checking on the baby. Brown woke up at about 11:30 a.m. on Dec. 6, 2016, pulled the blanket off the toddler and noticed she was blue and cold, according to investigators.

Foster's mother testified that her son called her frantic and said that Leah wasn't breathing. She said she told him to call 911.

Foster faces charges of murder and assault on a child with force likely to produce great bodily harm or death. Prosecutors argue that he was the last person to see Leah alive.

He faces charges of murder and assault on a child with force likely to produce great bodily harm or death. Brown pled guilty earlier this month to felony child endangerment.

The defense has argued that Leah's injuries were inflicted over a four-day period of abuse.

SDSO Deputy Brian Patterson testified last week that Brown told investigators she never hurt her baby and she was not present when her daughter was abused. 

Prosecutors said blood stains were found on a tank top and shorts owned by Foster and were shown to match the victim. 

When Foster was informed investigators would need to process his clothes, he became upset, according to testimony in a pretrial hearing.

The child's biological father, a member of the Jamul Indian Village, shared joint custody with Brown. Leah was the great-granddaughter of the man who led the tribe over three decades and helped establish it as a band in the Kumeyaay Nation.

Leah's paternal great-grandfather, Kenneth Meza, is currently the Vice Chair for the Jamul Indian Village, one of 13 bands of the Kumeyaay Nation. He served as Chair of the tribe for more than 30 years and was instrumental in getting the band recognized by the federal government.

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