A teen accused of killing his bestfriend’s mother in April will be prosecuted as an adult.
On April 24, 2021, at 7:13 pm, 16-year-old Dillon Jay felt a bump while pulling into the driveway of his home after work. When he got out to check what he had hit, Dillon found his mother lying on the floor of the garage with a trail of blood next to her.
Panicked, Dillon frantically called the police and reported he may have accidentally run over his mother, but when investigators arrived they found that Hester had not been hit with a car — she had been hit in the head several times with a blunt object. Her cause of death was determined to be a homicide.
The next day, a grieving Dillon invited his best friend, 16-year-old Amadeus Ballou-Meyer, over to his home to comfort him. Amadeus consoled Dillon and told him he couldn’t possibly imagine what it would be like to lose a parent.
After spending the day with Amadeus, Dillon went to view his neighbor’s surveillance footage and saw a male figure running away from his home holding a baseball bat. Dillon immediately recognized the figure as his very best friend Amadeus, who had just hugged him hours earlier and would spent at least 3 days a week at his home.
Two days later, Amadeus was arrested at his grandmother’s home. When officers tried to detain him, Amadeus attempted to jump off a second-floor balcony.
Judge Darian Dernovish said in court he does not like waiving juveniles to adult status, but said the “law is the law” and told Amadeus Ballou-Meyer he needs to pay the price.
Judge Dernovish considered eight factors when deciding if Ballou-Meyer needed to be prosecuted as an adult for the death of Hester Workman.
The factors include the seriousness of the offense, the sophistication of the crimes and the previous behavior of the defendant. All eight factors ruled in favor of the prosecution.
The prosecution called two witnesses in Wednesday’s waiver hearing.
Ballou-Meyer kept his head down during the majority of the hearing.
Workman was found dead in the garage of her home on James St. in Topeka on April 24. Security footage from neighbors showed a person running down the street with a baseball bat.
That person was later identified as Ballou-Meyer, a friend of Workman’s son.
Shawnee Co. District Attorney Mike Kagay’s Office will now have to file the adult case.
Kagay said Ballou-Meyer’s charges will be the same in the adult case, which includes a premeditated first-degree murder charge. He says juvenile court limits the penalties that can be pursued, which is why his office took this course of action.
“When we come across something that merits a first-degree murder charge like we have in this case, we’re always going to seek to prosecute the individual as an adult so that’s what we’ve done here,” he said.
If found guilty, Ballou-Meyer could face life in prison.
Members of Workman’s family were present in Thursday’s waiver hearing. They did not wish to speak on camera, but said they are relieved with the ruling and grateful for the work fo the detectives in this case.
Ballou-Meyer will also be prosecuted as an adult in a previous separate sex crimes case.
No trial date has been set yet.
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