Friday May 14, 2010
Mom to be Charged with Killing Unborn Infant while DUI
By James Tillman
ATLANTA, Georgia, May 14, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Georgia woman is soon to be charged with killing her 24-week-old unborn baby in a car accident after fleeing police while driving under the influence of alcohol.
According to police, Jessica Bruce refused to stop her car Wednesday when police tried to pull her over for going 85 mph in a suburban 65 mph zone outside of Atlanta. While fleeing, she struck one car before spinning into oncoming traffic and being struck again, totaling her vehicle. Bruce was cut from the wreckage of her car and taken to the hospital; a woman in the first car she struck was also taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
“The preliminary investigation leads us to believe she was under the influence of alcohol,” McDade told ABCNews.com. “She was fleeing police at a high rate of speed and driving dangerously.”
Bruce underwent an emergency C-section, but the child did not survive, according to Coroner Randy Daniel. Test results from a crime lab showed that the child died from injuries sustained in the crash.
Georgia code § 40-6-393.1 defines the offense of feticide by vehicle in the first degree, and states that a person convicted of the offense of feticide by vehicle in the first degree will be punished by imprisonment for three to fifteen years.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 38 states currently have fetal homicide laws of some kind. Twenty-one of these have laws that apply to any stage of pregnancy.