A North Carolina man has been arrested after assaulting his pregnant ex-girlfriend, which caused the death of his preborn child.
Raymond Jerel Callicutt has been charged with murder of a preborn child. Last month, Callicutt attacked Jenny Nicole Hearne at her home. Though the details of what happened are not clear, the assault must have been horrific; within days, Hearne went to the hospital. Her baby, Josiah Randolph Hearne, was born on November 14th at 24 weeks, making him extremely premature. He lived for 12 hours before succumbing to his injuries.
An autopsy was performed on baby Josiah, and it was discovered that he had injuries to his liver, brain, heart and lungs.
Police then arrested Callicutt, who is currently being held without bond. According to the North Carolina Medical Examiner’s Office, Josiah died specifically of blunt force trauma, meaning the injuries Callicutt inflicted on Hearne were sufficient enough to mortally wound Josiah while still in the womb.
Violence during pregnancy is, sadly, all too common; homicide is known to be a leading cause of death for pregnant women, with pregnant women more likely to die from murder than they are to die from the three leading obstetric causes of death (high blood pressure disorders, hemorrhage, and sepsis).
In addition to the homicide charge, Callicutt had also been arrested and charged with a home invasion; though it’s not clear, it seems Hearne may have been the victim in that case as well. In that incident, which took place on November 14th, police said Callicutt threatened the homeowner, who was not named in local media reports, telling them their “well pump might go out,” and that the “wind might pick up and blow their windows out.” Then, around 4:00 in the morning, he used a log to break into the woman’s home, got into a fight with an unnamed man, broke some more windows, and then fled into the woods. That is the same date on which other media reported Callicutt broke into Hearne’s home.
He is also facing charges for speeding, driving while license revoked, having an expired registration tag, operation of a vehicle without insurance, having an expired inspection, first-degree burglary, assault, and injury to real property.
