Three people in California have been charged with attempted murder following an assault on a woman who was 32 weeks pregnant, seemingly with the intent of killing the woman’s preborn child.
According to reports, Esther Ramirez, Linette Alcantarra, and Guillermo Corona-Huizar are charged with attempted murder, child cruelty, assault, false imprisonment with violence, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor; the last charge is due to the fact that a teenage boy was also involved in the incident.
The pregnant victim from Boron, California, told police that earlier in the day, her live-in-boyfriend had been arrested for suspected spousal battery. After that incident, her boyfriend’s mother arrived at her home with the two other individuals charged with the assault, as well as a teen boy.
The boy waved what appeared to be a gun at her, while the others involved choked her, kicked her in the face, and punched and kicked her in the ribs and stomach until she was almost unconscious. One of the attackers attempted to rip the child from her womb; she told police her assailant “applied all of her body weight on top of her while trying to grab her unborn baby through her stomach.”
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When police arrived, they found the victim in distress. “While on the scene, (the woman) was vomiting, having difficulty breathing, and showing signs of early labor,” an investigator reported. She was rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment, but the condition of her child following the incident is unknown.
The victim told investigators she had previously been assaulted by her mother-in-law during a prior pregnancy.
Though this woman survived her assault, domestic violence and homicide are two of the leading dangers to pregnant women. Homicide is one of the leading causes of death among pregnant women in the United States, accounting for more deaths than three leading obstetric causes of maternal death (high blood pressure disorders, hemorrhage, and sepsis).
Author’s Note: If you are a victim of domestic violence, please contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline, or call 1-800-799-SAFE.
