Lyntell Washington, a 40-year-old Louisiana woman and former Teacher of the Year, was murdered allegedly for refusing to have an abortion.
According to the Baton Rouge Police Department, Washington had been in a relationship with 39-year-old Robert Marks, an assistant principal at the Brookstown Middle Magnet Academy where she worked, for a year. Marks was married, but things came to a head when Washington learned he was unwilling to get a divorce.
They met in person last week, at which point Marks demanded she abort their child. When Washington refused, he allegedly shot her and dumped her body in a field. Washington’s three-year-old daughter witnessed her mother’s murder.
Marks left the toddler abandoned in Washington’s car. She was found in a parking lot, after which she told police “‘Mr. Robbie’ hurt her mother.”
Marks has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder, first-degree feticide, aggravated kidnapping, and child desertion. 38 states currently have fetal homicide laws on the books.
“Anybody that can commit that type of crime to a female that is seven months pregnant with your child is something that I can’t describe,” Police spokesman L’Jean McKneely said, noting that Marks showed “no emotion” for his actions. He could conceivably be executed for Washington’s murder.
Live Action News has previously recounted numerous instances of abusive men using violence to pressure women into abortion or punish them for choosing life. Studies have concluded that up to 64 percent of abortions were coerced in some way.
