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Mugshot model Jeremy Meeks recalls harrowing childhood: ‘I was a heroin baby’

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Updated on July 6, 2023

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Jeremy Meeks has talked about his difficult childhood with a mother who was addicted to heroin and a father who brutally killed a family member.

The 35-year-old star, who has a child with Topshop heiress Chloe Green, said that his father killed a woman, was shot five times, and lived next door to US serial murderer Charles Manson in prison.

In 2014, the model was sentenced to jail after being found guilty of being in possession of a handgun and grand larceny, and his mugshot went viral.

He told Chelsea Grayson in her video series “What’s Your Water” that he was born in Washington during “the crack era,” referring to the crack cocaine epidemic that rocked the United States between the early 1980s and the early 1990s.

“You know, my dad committed a murder when I was nine months old and killed my mom’s best friend because he was looking for us and she was the only one who knew where we were at. And she wouldn’t tell him and so he stabbed her to death, not knowing that we had rented the apartment right above her. So, he got a life sentence.”

Raymond Meeks was sentenced to prison in 1984 for stabbing Laura Leon-Melara 36 times and strangling her in an attack that lasted five hours.

A pearl-handled hunting knife was discovered in a dumpster behind the flats where he was residing, believed to be the murder weapon. He was also identified as a guy who had been banging on doors asking for Laura in the residence prior to her murder, according to a neighbor.

For the crime, Jeremy’s father was sentenced to prison, and the model was left to assist his mother overcome her drug addiction while also protecting her from violent boyfriends.

Meeks spoke about growing up with a heroin addict mother. “I dealt with the whole…helping her kick, and the needles, and the abusive boyfriends kicking the shit out of us. So, we bounced around a lot, and my mom went to jail a bunch of times.”

He continued: “Growing up in a heroin household is really hard. You have to grow up really fast, and fend for yourself, and bring something to the table so that everyone can eat.”

He said that his elder sister, who was 18 at the time, couldn’t handle it any longer and enlisted in the military. She returned to formally adopt him and his sibling after finishing bootcamp at the age of 20.

“My birth certificate says my sister’s name as the mother,” he said. “And that was the best thing that could’ve ever happened to me.”

He subsequently acknowledged that growing up in a crime-ridden environment taught him that he had to ‘make bad decisions,’ which led him to join the Crips gang after relocating to Los Angeles.

‘Next you know I’m fighting and fighting and fighting, and I had to learn really fast about colors, and gangs, and neighbourhoods, and sets,’ he continued.

“At a really young age, I got put on to the hood and from there, I moved out of the house at 15 and was in the streets,” he said.

He was quickly taken to juvenile detention, and shortly after his release, he was shot five times and beaten severely by gang members.

“When I got out I still had that prison mentality,” he remarked of his time in prison.

“When I got out, all my family moved. I didn’t mind not being on the streets. So I ended up right back in prison and it was just a revolving door.

“You know like, a crazy thing is I was sitting in Corcoran state prison doing a chute term for a stabbing. And my next door neighbour was Charles Manson for 18 months.”

He also discussed the challenges of being mixed race, noting that “you’re not black enough and you’re not white” for most light-skinned people.

His later 2014 arrest would prove to be a watershed moment for him; as his mugshot went viral, and he was offered modeling jobs upon his release.

His judge even decided to shorten his sentence from 63 to 27 months so that he might capitalize on his newfound fame.

“The only thing that saved me, which was such a blessing, was my judge. He helped me in so many ways,” he said.

The model walked at New York Fashion Week and Milan Fashion Week, as well as in a commercial for Carolina Lemke eyewear.

“I had no idea what I was going to do,” he remarked of getting found as a model.

“One of my passions was growing a lot of weed. So I always operated in grey areas.”

Jeremy has two children: a 10-year-old son called Jeremy Jr, whom he has with ex-wife Melissa, and a 16-month-old son named Jayden, whom he shares with his girlfriend, Topshop heiress Chloe Green.