In what could be the first test of a new state law, Baltimore County prosecutors might bring additional charges against the man accused of killing his pregnant girlfriend, if an autopsy determines the unborn child is “viable.”
Police charged David Lee Miller, 24, of Parkville, with killing Elizabeth Walters, 24, of Baltimore City, who was seven months pregnant.
A Maryland law has allowed prosecution for murder or manslaughter of a viable fetus since October 2005, but so far it has not been used, Maryland Chief Medical Examiner David Fowler said.
Fowler said his office will document the weight and development of the unborn child to determine viability.
“Twenty-eight weeks old and 500 grams in weight is generally considered the difference between a nonviable fetus and a viable fetus,” Fowler said. “That?s when the fetus has a significant chance of survival.”
Fowler?s determinations will direct prosecutors? next moves, Baltimore County State?s Attorney Scott Shellenberger said.
“Certainly, if the [medical examiner] says it?s a viable fetus, we?ll look at adding the charges when the case comes to the grand jury,” he said.
Maryland law operates under the principle of “transferred intent,” University of Baltimore law professor Byron Warnken said. That means if Miller intended to kill Walters ? and killed the unborn baby in the process ? he could have intended to commit both crimes.
