Bill Would Add Second Homicide Charge In Murder Of Pregnant Woman

By Abraham Hurt
TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS—Legislation that would allow prosecutors to seek a second murder charge against a criminal defendant accused of killing a pregnant woman passed out of the Senate Thursday.

“This bill, simply put, attacks a criminal defendant, a perpetrator, a third party who would shoot and kill a woman and if that woman is pregnant would allow the prosecutor to bring a second homicide charge,” Sen. Aaron Freeman, R-Indianapolis, said when presenting Senate Bill 203.

Freeman said he became interested in the bill after meeting Jennifer Lee, who lost her 18-year-old daughter and her unborn child in a shooting in 2017.

Current Indiana law allows for people who murder a pregnant woman that also terminates the pregnancy to receive an additional six to 20 years in prison. This new bill would allow that defendant to face an additional 45-60 years in prison if convicted of murder.

Freeman worked with Sen. Tim Lanane, D-Anderson, to ensure that the bill made it clear that it had nothing to do with abortion.

The bill, which passed 42-6, will now move onto the Indiana House.

FOOTNOTE: Abraham Hurt is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.