Eight-month-old Iowa Meriweather died on August 28, 2020, after suffering a single gunshot wound to the head. The Vanderburgh County Coroner’s Office ruled the death a homicide. Iowa was born December 21, 2019, and had been treated for a congenital heart defect as an infant; family described her as a happy, sweet-spirited baby.

Police responded that afternoon to an apartment on Vista Drive in Evansville after a report of a baby being shot. Iowa was found in an infant safety seat and was pronounced dead at the hospital. Her father, Anthony Lamont Meriweather, first told investigators the wound was from a stray bullet, then later admitted a gun discharged while he was handling it inside the residence. A witness said they heard a shot after leaving a room and returned to find the gun on the floor near Meriweather and the infant.

Anthony Meriweather was arrested and charged with neglect of a dependent resulting in death and was booked into the Vanderburgh County Corrections Center; bond was initially set at $50,000 and later reduced, a decision the Prosecutor’s Office contested. If anyone has information about what happened at the Vista Drive apartment that afternoon, please share what is known.