Boyfriend charged with murder after death of pregnant woman's unborn child
A 26-year-old Knoxville man is facing charges of murder of an unborn child after, authorities say, he struck a pregnant woman with his car last month.
Payton McCarty was indicted by a Knox County Grand Jury and taken into custody Monday for felony first degree murder, vehicular homicide, aggravated assault and attempted especially aggravated kidnapping, according to court records. The murder charge carries a life imprisonment sentence if convicted.
While recent headlines across the country have focused on the criminal charges women could potentially face for having an abortion, Tennessee has had homicide laws in place since 2012 that include a fetus at any stage of gestation in utero.
It is rare but there have been similar cases in Knox County where defendants were prosecuted for killing an unborn baby.
In 2018, Brandon Scott Donaldson was convicted of two counts of second-degree murder in the 2013 shooting deaths of Marcia Crider and her 13-week-old fetus, and was sentenced to 68 years in prison. Donaldson was the first defendant convicted in Knox County under the amended law allowing for the prosecution of defendants who murder a fetus, regardless of the viability of the unborn child, a spokesperson for the District Attorney's office said at the time. Under prior law, the fetus had to be deemed potentially viable in order sustain a charge for murder.
An earlier case against Norman Eugene Clark in the 2011 slaying of Brittany Eldridge, who was nearly 9 months pregnant, ended after two separate juries acquitted him.
Victim was 25 weeks pregnant
The most recent charges stem from a June 16 incident, said Knoxville Police Department spokesman Scott Erland. At around 2:45 a.m., officers had responded to the 100 block of Atlantic Avenue, where a pregnant 27-year-old woman was found lying in the road with life-threatening injuries.
The woman, who was around 25 weeks pregnant, was taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center, Erland said. The fetus, which was considered potentially viable by medical professionals, died at the hospital, he said. The mother sustained a seriously fractured pelvis as well as possible head trauma. At the time of the incident, her injuries were considered very critical, Erland said. She remains hospitalized and is continuing to receive extensive treatment for the injuries she sustained in the assault.
The investigation revealed that the victim and McCarty, the father of the unborn child, were involved in a domestic dispute when McCarty either struck or dragged her with his car and then fled the scene, Erland said.
McCarty previously faced aggravated assault charges involving the same woman in February. The woman told officers that she was in a car with McCarty when they began arguing and he punched and hit her. When she tried to get out of the car, he grabbed her and would not let go as he drove backward and forward, dragging her, according to court records. The case was dismissed, according to court records.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knox County DA charges man with murder in death of unborn child
