Alabama Killer Won’t be Charged for Killing Pregnant Woman’s Baby
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
August 2, 2005
Albertville, AL (LifeNews.com) — An unnamed Alabama suspect responsible for the shooting death of 23 year-old Brandy Parker, who was eight months pregnant at the time of her death, will not be charged for two murders in the death of her unborn child. Prosecutors say state laws do not allow them to hold the criminal accountable for the baby’s death.
Marshall County District Attorney Steve Marshall told the Huntsville Times that there is not a state law that allows a homicide charge related to the death of Parker’s baby.
Although 32 other states recognize the death or injury to an unborn child as a crime in at least some circumstances, Alabama does not.
"In this state, as the law reads, life begins at birth," Marshall said
"There was an attempt to get a bill through the Legislature that would have made it so a person could be prosecuted for murder if the baby was 19 or more weeks along," he explained.
However, abortion advocates derailed the bill by claiming it would overturn legal abortions, even though that hasn’t happened in the other 32 states with similar laws.
Parker was found shot to death in her pick up truck on July 29. The unnamed assailant will face the death penalty charged related to her death.
Parker’s son was removed from her body and buried with her at Mount Carmel Cemetery on Georgia Mountain, the Times reports. Her other son Brett, who is 3, is staying with relatives.
Autopsy results show Parker was shot in the head and her baby died as a result of her body not being able to provide for the child.
In April 2004, President Bush signed a federal unborn victims bill that covers women throughout pregnancy who are victims of federal crimes or crimes on federal lands.
Such laws have never been found unconstitutional in the more than a dozen cases about them in state courts over the years.
