By Shereen Siewert

One of four boys accused of beating and critically injuring a Wausau teen with a baseball bat will serve six months in jail on felony child abuse charges, part of an imposed and stayed sentence ordered Tuesday.

Jordan Meyer is the youngest of the four boys accused in the beating and was 15 when he participated in the attack.

During a sentencing hearing Tuesday in Marathon County Circuit Court, Judge Greg Strasser sentenced Meyer to three years in prison and three years probation, but stayed the sentence for six years of probation. That means Meyer will avoid prison time if his probation is successful. The jail term is part of his probation, with an additional six months possible for any future rule violations, according to court records.

Meyer was also ordered to apologize to the victim, earn a high school diploma and perform 250 hours of community service. The maximum penalty for his crime was 40 years in the Wisconsin Prison System.

The attack was reported at about 10:30 p.m. July 1, 2019 in the 600 bock of Chicago Avenue after a resident heard a loud “ting” of a baseball bat, then saw people getting out of a dark sedan and beating the 15-year-old victim, according to the criminal complaint. The victim’s friend took off running and escaped, police said.

About 10 days later, investigators spoke with a witness who told police he had observed a SnapChat social media post on the day of the attack of four teenage boys wearing bandanas covering their faces and holding baseball bats. The witness identified all four people in the media post.

A second witness told police he spoke with the four suspects on the day of the attack and he became aware that the boys were going somewhere to beat someone up. Later, he saw the teens again and heard them brag about “having beaten someone up,” according to the complaint.

Residents in the neighborhood were further shaken by a drive-by shooting two days after the beating that happened in the area of North First Street and McIndoe Street. There were no injuries as a result of the shooting, which police said was “perceived retaliation” for the beating.

Following the shooting a vehicle registered to 36-year-old Amanda J. Lewis was quickly identified as a vehicle of interest in the shooting and was located in the vicinity of North Sixth Street and Chicago Avenue. Police say the victim in the July 2019 beating was a friend of Lewis’ son and was at the Lewis’ home prior to the assault.

Officers seized the vehicle and interviewed several people who were seen leaving the residence, including Lewis, who was arrested four days later in connection with the shooting. Lewis is facing charges of attempted first-degree intentional homicide as party to a crime, maintaining a drug trafficking place and obstructing an officer. She remains jailed on a $250,000 cash bond.

Meyer is the second suspect to be sentenced in the attack. In September, 17-year-old Benjamin Dickerson received a similar stayed sentence with eight months in jail.

A plea hearing for a third suspect, Michael Hrobsky, is set for Nov. 3, while Brendan Griffin is due to be sentenced Nov. 18.