When two-year-old Steven Meek II was taken to a Virginia hospital, unresponsive, and died two days later, investigators focused on his mother’s boyfriend, McKenzie Hellman, whose story about how Steven incurred his injuries didn’t add up. No one could have anticipated just how horrific McKenzie’s actions truly were or how fundamentally baby Steven had been betrayed by his own mother, Kayla Thomas. Only when the two were charged with multiple crimes involving sexual abuse and child pornography did the full picture of the couple’s depravity begin to develop.

This is the story of a sweet, well-behaved little boy who adored Mickey Mouse and loved learning new things. It’s also the story of a mother who allowed the twisted desires of her morally bankrupt boyfriend to eclipse the responsibilities of motherhood to a degree most of us will never comprehend.

This is the stomach-turning story of Steven Meek II.

Promo: Tapes from the Darkside is a serialized true crime podcast. Each season, they take one case and investigate in-depth using primary audio from 911 calls, police interrogations and interviews, court proceedings, and any other relevant source they can find. linktr.ee/darksidepodcast

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