Under The Radar Violence
In The Conflict Over Abortion

(CONTINUED)
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As you read these cases, there are several things to keep in mind.

  • Because of some insurmountable research barriers associated with these cases, those shown here represent no more than a tiny fraction of the whole. In fact, they are not even all the examples we were able to uncover, but are merely a representative sample of them.
  • These cases only deal with instances in which the victim died and do not include the much larger group of women who survived being beaten, shot, stabbed or worse.
  • The details of the attacks committed against the women and girls in these particular cases are not unusual. To the contrary, they are typical of the cases we found. In fact, we often softened the descriptions of them in order to keep this report from becoming unnecessarily graphic and difficult to read.

At the beginning of each file, the victim’s name is given followed by her age, the year she was killed and the state in which her death took place. Also included is whether her refusal to have an abortion was either the Confirmed or the Self-Evident motive for her murder.

This latter designation was necessary in order to address the fact that media and law enforcement reports often state that the victim was killed because the perpetrator “was angry about the pregnancy” or “didn’t want the baby” or “claimed that the baby wasn’t his” or said that he “wasn’t ready to be a father,” etcetera. As explained earlier, our research shows that when a male displays these kinds of attitudes about his partner’s pregnancy, his first reaction will be to demand that she have an abortion. In almost every incident in which violence ensues, its motive will be that she refused to comply.

Eatmon, Lisa D.

Age: 33, Date: 2005, State: NY

Abortion Motive Confirmed

Roscoe Glinton II threw a hair dryer into Ms. Eatmon’s bathwater in a failed attempt to electrocute her. Ten days later, he fatally shot her in the back of the head and dumped her body into the Hudson River. According to prosecutors, Glinton’s motive was that Ms. Eatmon was pregnant with his child and had refused to have an abortion. In November of 2006, he was sentenced to 25-years-to-life for her murder.

[New York Post 10- 5-2006 • NBC10 4-11-2005 • Court TV News 10-12-2006]

Ebron, Karesse

Age: 16, Date: 2006, State: NY

Abortion Motive Confirmed

Ryan Ross drove Ms. Ebron to a wooded area near her home and bludgeoned her to death with a baseball bat. In 2007, he confessed to the murder and was sentenced to 22-years-to-life in prison. He told investigators that he killed Ms. Ebron because she was pregnant with his baby and would not have an abortion.

[New York’s Journal News 3-2-2007 / 6-30-2006]

Erazua, Omoyeme “Christine”

Age: 19, Date: 2011, State: TX

Abortion Motive Confirmed

Authorities in Houston say that Joseph Mike Devia stabbed Ms. Erazua in the neck more than 20 times and threw her into a ditch to die because she refused to abort their unborn child. Devia, who was linked to the crime by DNA evidence as well as text messages he sent to the victim, was arrested in Illinois and sent back to Texas where he awaits trial for capital murder.

[Houston Chronicle 12-6-2011 • My Fox News Houston 12-7-2011 • HoustonPress.com 12-8-2011 • Harris County District Court SPN 02592732]

Escamilla, Anyssia Katherine

Age: 17, Date: 2010, State: CA

Abortion Motive Confirmed

According to investigators, Jesus Francisco Avitia, Jr., told them that he killed Ms. Escamilla because she was pregnant with his child and refused to have an abortion. After being choked to death and placed in a garbage can, her body was hidden under 60 feet of trash in a nearby landfill. Avitia has been charged with two counts of murder.

[The Associated Press 5-25-2010 • The Press-Enterprise 8-16-2010]

Espeleta, Jeanette Gomez

Age: 20, Date: 1998, State: CA

Abortion Motive Confirmed

According to press reports, when Ms. Espeleta told Richard Tovar that she was pregnant with his child, he ordered her to have an abortion. Because she refused, he shot her to death. Afterward, Tovar and two accomplices rented a boat and dumped her body into the Pacific Ocean. In 2000, he was convicted for her murder and given life in prison with no possibility of parole.

[The Orange County Register 11-4-2000]

Figueroa, LaToyia

Age: 24, Date: 2005, State: PA

Abortion Motive Confirmed

After Ms. Figueroa became pregnant by Stephen Poaches, he demanded that she have an abortion. Authorities say that, because she refused, Poaches strangled her and dumped her body in a vacant lot. In 2006, he was convicted in the case and given life in prison without the possibility of parole.

[Associated Press 10-17-2006 • Philadelphia Inquirer 10-18-2006 • Philadelphia Daily News 10-14-2006]

Fludd, Shameka

Age: 23, Date: 2003, State: MD

Abortion Motive Confirmed

According to authorities, Tjane Charmeise Marshall shot Ms. Fludd to death because she was pregnant with his child and would not have an abortion. Friends of the victim stated that she had told them that Marshall was enraged about the pregnancy but that she could not bear the thought of having an abortion. In 2005, Marshall received life-plus-20-years for Ms. Fludd’s murder.

[Washington Post 12-20-2004]

Fox, Tanika Rachelle

Age: 17, Date: 1999, State: NC

Abortion Motive Confirmed

Ms. Fox was pregnant with the child of Shawn Kristopher Holliman when he shot her to death. Law enforcement investigators discovered that the motive for the murder was that Ms. Fox had refused Holliman’s demand to have an abortion. In 2001, he was convicted of her murder and given life in prison.

[North Carolina Court of Appeals No. COA02-133 • The Greensboro News and Record 7-11-2001]

Graham, Shawnte

Age: 19, Date: 1994, State: IL

Abortion Motive Confirmed

Prosecutors say that when U.S. Navy Petty Officer, Weldon May, was told that his girlfriend was pregnant, he demanded that she have an abortion. When she refused, May recruited Michael Sapp to kill her. In exchange, May said he would see that Sapp was admitted to the Navy even though he had been previously rejected for poor vision. Sapp went to Ms. Graham’s apartment, forced her to strip naked and fatally shot her in the left eye with a .32-caliber handgun. In 1996, May pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and Sapp was convicted of the same charge.

[Chicago Tribune 2-25-1994 / 9-21-1996]

Grayson, Latrice

Age: 24, Date: 2008, State: CA

Abortion Motive Confirmed

When former postal worker, Aaron Ashley, found out that Ms. Grayson was pregnant with his child, he ordered her to have an abortion. Because she refused, he stabbed her to death with a pair of scissors. Ms. Grayson’s body was found by her four-year-old son. In 2009, a jury sentenced Ashley to 32-years-to-life in prison for her murder.

[The Oakland Tribune 1-22-2009 • KTVU 7-31-2009]

Grill, Kristina

Age: 15, Date: 1993, State: PA

Abortion Motive Confirmed

According to police investigators, Maurice Bailey stabbed Ms. Grill in the neck and beat her severely because she would not abort their child. A seven-year-old boy discovered her body on an elementary school playground. Bailey was eventually convicted of her murder and given life without the possibility of parole.

[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 9-14-1994 • Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 9-22-2008]

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