Seattle Man Kills Girlfriend, Daughter After She Refused His Abortion Request
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
December 28, 2009
Seattle, WA (LifeNews.com) — A Seattle-area man is in police custody after allegedly killing his girlfriend and their infant daughter after the woman refused his request to get an abortion. Daniel Thomas Hicks is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the death of 28-year-old Jennifer "J" Morgan and 13-month-old Ema Morgan.
Hicks was charged on Thursday after he was apprehended following the discovery of the bodies by Morgan’s mother and cooperation with other relatives who aided them in locating Hicks.
The Times indicates Hicks was diagnosed as depressed and suicidal for some time after having lost his job and that the condition worsened when he learned Morgan was pregnant.
Legal papers the Times obtained say Hicks wanted Morgan to have an abortion and claimed she "was just trying to trap him with the pregnancy." They say Hicks made several threats about killing Morgan and himself.
The documents indicate that Hicks was upset after the birth of the baby because he was disappointed Ema was a girl and not a boy.
The papers also say he "became very jealous and suspicious of Jennifer," and questioned whether he was in fact the baby’s biological father.
Morgan, the newspaper indicated, had planned to tell Hicks last week while her mother was at work that he needed to move out of their home. When Morgan’s mother returned home late that evening, she was glad to see Hicks’ truck gone and assume he had left.
She assumed Morgan and Ema were sleeping and, when she went downstairs the next morning, she discovered they had been shot and killed.
Hicks left a note apologizing and the police paperwork indicated Hick’s father shot and killed his mother when he was young.
Although Morgan did not have an abortion, incidents of mothers facing pressure and coercion to have an abortion by their husband or boyfriend are commonplace. Surveys of women who have had abortions indicate as many as 60 percent have said they faced pressure from a partner, family, or employer.
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