The lone criminal charge filed after the death of an 11-year-old boy at a Mason City treatment center has been dropped. Thirty-six-year-old Lori Meacham was originally charged with child endangerment after the death of 11-year-old Tanner Wilson in February of last year. The boy’s heart stopped beating after he’d been placed in a restraining hold by Meacham. The county medical examiner ruled the death a homicide. The Iowa Attorney General’s office asked that the charge be dropped, though, after an out-of-state pathologist reviewed the autopsy records and concluded the death was an accident, a ruling that undermined the state’s case. A district court judge has dismissed the criminal charge, but Tanner Wilson’s parents will pursue their civil lawsuit against Meacham, her employer — Gerard of Iowa — as well as another Gerard employee. That case is set for trial in October.
