A 23-year-old man is charged with punching his 7-months-pregnant girlfriend in the abdomen during a fight, ultimately killing her unborn child, prosecutors said Thursday.
Jovanny Martinez is accused of punching the 25-year-old woman so severely she thought her water had broken, only to find blood on the floor, Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Christy Brewer said. The attack happened about 11 p.m. on July 8 at the apartment they and their 11-month-old child share in the 4700 block of South Paulina. Martinez allegedly punched the woman repeatedly in her abdomen and arms, Brewer said.
The woman’s stillborn daughter — whose father was not Martinez — was delivered at Mount Sinai Hospital early the following morning, Brewer said. An autopsy found the girl died from an internal assault and her death was ruled a homicide.
Martinez is charged with one felony count each of homicide of an unborn child, aggravated domestic battery and aggravated battery, authorities said.
The reason for the fight was not discussed during the Thursday hearing.
Martinez was arrested Tuesday, and on Thursday, Judge Laura Sullivan ordered him held on a $700,000 bond. Martinez, appearing in court in a black T-shirt and white basketball shorts, was also ordered jailed without bond for violating probation for a 2012 robbery conviction.