Oklahoma Man Beats Ex-Girlfriend to Cause an Abortion
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
August 12, 2003
Oklahoma City, OK (LifeNews.com) — In a case that pro-life groups say highlights the need for the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, an Oklahoma man allegedly beat his ex-girlfriend in an attempt to cause an abortion and destroy the life of her child.
Oklahoma City police responded to a robbery call late Friday night and found Erin Blythe Gardner reeling from an assault.
In the early stages of pregnancy, she had been pistol-whipped, robbed and repeatedly kicked in the stomach. Amazingly, she did not have a miscarriage.
She told police her ex-boyfriend, Shawn LaTray Lawrence called her numerous times and attempted to get her to meet him after work.
"When she got off, he called and said he’d be 20 minutes late, but he was insistent she not leave and stay there," Southerland told Channel 5 News. "While she was waiting on her boyfriend, another person wearing a mask walked up from behind her car, stuck a gun through the open window, then made her get out."
The man beat her with a pistol and started kicking her in the stomach. The attacker took her purse and fled.
Police found Lawrence, who appeared to be drunk. While speaking to him, a car with no license plates pulled into a driveway down the street. The driver, Andrel E. Singleton, had no license and a search turned up the mask and gun. He was arrested.
Singleton said Lawrence hired him and another person to assault Gardiner and cause her to have a miscarriage.
