An Alabama woman is behind bars, accused of kicking and punching a pregnant woman in the stomach, ultimately killing her unborn child.
Iveonna Lashay Turner, 20, is charged with murder. She remains held in the Houston County jail on $500,000 bond.
Dothan police responded Jan. 24 to a residence in the 100 block of Shadowlawn Drive on a report of a domestic disturbance.
Witnesses told police that Turner and another, who court records identify as the mother of Turner’s boyfriend, got into a physical altercation in the front yard.
Lt. Scott Owens said Turner got the pregnant victim on the ground and started punching and kicking her in the stomach.
“According to witnesses, she was focused on that area,’’ Owens said.
After the altercation, the pregnant woman, who is in her 30s, went to get medical treatment and doctors determined the fetus was no longer viable and unable to survive, Owens said.
The woman was in the early stages of her pregnancy. Owens said in Alabama, a fetus, regardless of its viability, is considered a person.
After the altercation, court records show, Turner sought a protection from abuse order against her boyfriend. In that request, Turner claimed that she went to pick up her 8-week-old daughter from her boyfriend’s house when her boyfriend and his mother “jumped” her.
Owens said the original calls was Turner reporting to be the victim of domestic violence at the hands of her boyfriend. “Our investigation revealed that was not accurate information,’’ he said.
Turner was booked into the Houston County Jail on Friday.