A man and his girlfriend arranged to have their newborn child killed by having him punch her stomach while the baby was still in the womb, it has been alleged.
Authorities in California say that the mother admitted to police that she and her boyfriend intentionally sought to kill their baby while she was in the late stages of her pregnancy.
Police were called to Kern Medical in Bakersfield after staff delivered a newborn baby from a woman who arrived on May 24.
After delivery, the baby was found to have been suffering from a fractured skull and spinal injuries, according to court documents.
The baby died shortly after it was born. News of the baby’s death was reported by KGET-TV.
The mother was believed to have been 7.5 months pregnant at the time of the baby’s birth.
A man and his girlfriend arranged to have their newborn child killed by having him punch her stomach while the baby was still in the womb, it has been alleged. The baby was delivered last month at Kern Medical in Bakersfield, California (seen in the above stock image)
Staff at Kern Medical also noticed ‘severe bruising’ on the mother’s stomach.
Initially, she claimed that the bruising was a result of a fall, according to court documents.
But after she was questioned by police, she eventually admitted that she and her boyfriend intentionally tried to harm the baby while it was in the womb.
Court documents claim that the woman told her boyfriend to squeeze and punch her stomach ‘at least 10 times.’
The mother told investigators that after absorbing her boyfriend’s blows, she eventually no longer felt the baby move.
The boyfriend, for his part, denies striking his girlfriend’s stomach or causing harm to the baby.
Prosecutors in Kern County District Attorney’s Office have yet to decide whether to charge the parents.
According to California law, murder is the unlawful killing of a human being or fetus with malice afterthought.
But the law contains a provision which says that it does not apply to any person who commits an act that results in the death of a fetus if the act was solicited, aided, abetted, or consented to by the mother.