Parkville man killed girlfriend, unborn baby
A Parkville man was sentenced to two life terms Monday for killing his girlfriend and their unborn baby — the first time prosecutors have won a conviction under Maryland’s fetal homicide law.
Baltimore County Circuit Judge Dana Levitz sentenced David Miller, 25, in the murder of Elizabeth Walters, 24, and their unborn daughter, Olivia. Miller also was convicted of shooting Walters’ friend, Heather Lowe, in the face.
“There’s no place in our society for a guy to commit an act as cowardly as this guy did,” Walters’ father, Don, said after Miller’s conviction. Miller’s case was the first time in Maryland history that a person was charged with murdering an unborn child. A 2005 fetal homicide law allows the criminal charge if the state medical examiner rules that the fetus was “viable.”
Walters and Lowe were shot around 10:20 a.m. June 11, 2007, while sitting in a Dodge Stratus in the parking lot of the Parkway Crossing Shopping Center on Cleanleigh Road. The two women had come to meet Miller, who — unknown to Walters — was married, to ask what role he would play in raising his child, prosecutors said.
“He said, ‘You’re not going to ruin my life,’ ” Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger said.
Police did not initially charge Miller with the unborn child’s death. Chief Medical Examiner David Fowler said his office generally determines viability based on whether the fetus is at least 28 weeks old and weighs at least 500 grams. Walters was seven months pregnant.
