A 23-year-old man has been charged with the beating of his pregnant girlfriend, which ultimately led to the death of her unborn child earlier this month, a beating originally blamed on a group of people.
On Tuesday, Jovanny Martinez, of the 4700 block of South Paulina Street, the same address where the victim lived, was arrested, police said.
Police said the woman identified Martinez—her boyfriend—as the person who battered her.
Martinez is charged with one felony count each of homicide of an unborn child, aggravated domestic battery, and aggravated battery of a pregnant woman.
Jovanny Martinez
Police originally said the 25-year-old woman was walking in the 4800 block of South Laflin Street about 11 p.m. on July 8 when a group of men and women approached and they exchanged words.
The group then punched the woman and knocked her to the ground, before continuing the beating, landing blows to her arms and abdomen, police said at the time.
The woman was at least 7 1/2 months pregnant at the time of the assault, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.
She was treated at Mount Sinai Hospital, where a baby girl was delivered stillborn the day after the attack, the medical examiner’s office said. An autopsy determined the baby died in the womb as a result of the attack.