Monday, June 13, 2011

Forced abortion attempt leads to attempted murder sentence

On June 10, Dominic Holt-Reid was sentenced to 13 years in jail after he pled guilty to attempted murder and other charges. This case made national headlines because the victim he attempted to murder was his unborn child.

In October of 2010, Holt-Reid was arrested at an abortion clinic after he pointed a gun at his pregnant girlfriend, drove her to an abortion clinic in Columbus and attempted to force her into having an abortion.

Holt-Reid's attorney attempted to argue that Holt-Reid shouldn't be sentenced for attempted murder because he wasn't violent towards the unborn child but the judge disagreed and part of his sentence was 5 years for the attempted murder of his unborn child.

"He needs to be punished for what he did to Miss Burgess, but not for the fetus," Shoemaker told Common Pleas Judge Pat Sheeran. "There was no violence of any sort against the fetus, and he needs to be sentenced appropriately."

Sheeran disagreed with Shoemaker's argument, sentencing Holt-Reid to five years for attempted murder, five years for abduction and three years for the weapons charge. Holt-Reid wasn't allowed to have a gun because he was convicted of a federal drug charge in 2007.

Burgess didn't attend the hearing but provided a lengthy statement in which she said the incident left her with high blood pressure and other stress-related problems.

"Dominic had given me an ultimatum: It was either him or our baby," she wrote. "Of course, I wanted both. However, I am not a weak, needy or desperate woman willing to hurt my child for a man."

Burgess eventually delivered a healthy baby, one of two she has with Holt-Reid.

FULL STORY