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PRESCOTT, Ariz. — An Arizona man has been arrested and faces charges of attempted homicide after assaulting his wife which led to the loss of her pregnancy, officials with the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office said. Deputies were called to a home in the Prescott area on Sunday, Oct.
27, and said an initial investigation revealed a man threw his pregnant wife to the floor during an argument and the woman suffered trauma to her abdomen, according to Yavapai County officials. The husband was arrested for assault. >> Live, local, breaking.
Download the 12News app The woman refused medical treatment at the scene but admitted herself to a nearby hospital where she was told the 6 to 8-week-old embryo was no longer viable after having signs of viability just days before, officials said. The county attorney's office added an attempted homicide charge was added after information came through that the embryo died, officials said. “The Sheriff’s Office would like to extend condolences to the woman who lost her child.
I am always grateful to the men and women of the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office who always fight to protect the most vulnerable among us and by holding violent perpetrators accountable,” Yavapai County Sheriff David Rhodes said. More than a third of states consider an embryo or fetus to be a person at some point during a pregnancy, allowing for criminal charges to be filed in this case. In 2021, former Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signed a law that recognized the personhood of a fetus from the moment of fertilization.
In July 2022, a federal judge in Phoenix blocked the law. Yavapai County officials said the Arizona Revised Statute 1-219 allowed them to file criminal charges: The laws of this state shall be interpreted and construed to acknowledge, on behalf of an unborn child at every stage of development, all rights, privileges, and immunities available to other persons, citizens, and residents of this state, subject only to the Constitution of the United States and decisional interpretations thereof by the United States Supreme Court. The identity of the man arrested is not being released to protect the identity of the woman, officials said.
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