Teens Kill 31-Week-Old Unborn Baby, Deliver Child and Left the Baby in the Toilet
Two North Carolina teenagers face felony charges after the 18-year-old mother allegedly took abortion pills at 31 weeks of pregnancy in an attempt to end the life of her unborn child, resulting in the premature birth of the baby into a toilet.
Syeisha Jadan Johnson, 18, and the child’s father, Elijah Jshaun Speight, 19, were arrested Auust 4, six days after Durham police responded to Johnson’s home on July 29.
Court documents state that Johnson ordered the abortion drugs mifepristone and misoprostol online from Virginia and took them on July 26 “in an attempt to terminate her pregnancy early.”
The couple learned of their unborn baby in June when Johnson was about 20 weeks along, Speight told officers.
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On July 29, according to a detective’s account in the warrants, “Ms. Johnson began having abdominal pain and sat down during the day to help with the pain. She sat on the toilet and gave birth to a child.”
The infant was born at 31 weeks gestation, weighed under 5.5 pounds, and was left in the toilet for several minutes.
First responders found the newborn with a pulse, performed CPR, and transported the baby to Duke Medical Center. The child survived.
Johnson is charged with assault inflicting serious bodily injury on an unborn child, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, and negligent child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury. Speight is charged with negligent child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury.
At their first court appearance Aug. 5, a judge set each teen’s bond at $1,000, finding neither had a criminal background or posed a danger to the community.
North Carolina law allows abortion only up to 12 weeks of pregnancy, with narrow exceptions.
At 31 weeks, the baby had completed most major development and was clearly viable outside the womb.
Durham County District Attorney Satana Deberry supports abortion and said she had not yet reviewed the evidence but would decide whether to pursue the charges after doing so.
“What I can say is that I have been on the record over and over again saying I believe a woman has the right to choose and has the right to make decisions about her own body, and we will review the evidence in this case in that light,” Deberry said.
The baby is not the mother’s body.
She added that the teens “are very young, and [it’s] important they be with their families and be able to defend themselves appropriately.”
Johnson’s defense attorney argued in court that state law exempts pregnant women from certain prosecutions involving their own unborn child and that Johnson sought help after the birth.
“Miss Johnson did exactly what we would expect her to do, which is getting care for her child,” the attorney said.
The case underscores the lethal reality of chemical abortion drugs and the problems associated with obtaining them outside legitimate medical channels and used on a fully formed, viable unborn baby far past the legal limit. Only emergency intervention prevented the death of a child who had already been subjected to a deliberate attempt to end his or her life.
LifeNews Note: File photo.
