Baby killer?
Deputies: Baby dies after man beats pregnant woman
Deputies said an Inman man was accused of beating his pregnant girlfriend and killing the unborn baby.
Spartanburg County deputies said they were called to Spartanburg Regional Medical Center to speak with a woman who had been beaten up.
The woman told deputies that her boyfriend, 21-year-old Michael Ellenburg, was upset when she returned home late about 3 a.m. after spending time with friends. She said he ran towards her, punched her in the face, knocking her to the ground.
As the woman lie on the ground, Ellenburg continued to punch her in the face and kneed her in the stomach, deputies said.
Deputies said Ellenburg knew the victim was 10-and-a-half weeks pregnant, and they have two other children together. Before investigators left the hospital, they learned the baby died.
Ellenburg was arrested and charged with aggravated criminal domestic violence and later released on a $10,000 bond.
I know what you’re thinking – Why isn’t that scumbag charged with murder?
10 and 1/2 weeks is still first trimester. Is the fetus a human life or isn’t it?
Because if you think he should be charged with murder then you think abortion is murder.
Just something to think about.
The Crawdad Hole 
Just as a precaution I am putting on asbestos underwear.
Kevlar would be better.
The pregnant lady shot by the Batman crazy lost her baby and he wasn’t charged with that ? I think because the hospital said the baby died as a result of her surgery, not the shooting. D’oh ?
Also, wasn’t Scott Peterson charged with a double murder because his wife was pregnant?
Laci Peterson was 8 months pregnant.
I don’t think abortion is murder, but it is killing. However, women are in a unique biological situation and have the right to kill an embryo. Call it self defense if you like.
That said, people should be upset about it. The fact that women have to make this choice is a sign that our bodies are not respected either by us or the men we partner with or both, and that some circumstances in our culture aren’t conducive to birthing and raising a child.
If you don’t like abortion the best way to prevent it is to promote women’s economic equality and to promote respect for our bodies.
Exactly. It’s ultimately a choice for the woman to make, not for anyone else to make. THAT is the distinction between abortion and …in this case… murder.
And yes, I think he should be charged with murder.
I agree with you 100% yttik.
YES!
40 years ago, if a woman left her two young kids with her husband and went out until 3am, pregnant or not, I think society would have frowned on that.
Nowadays, I think it’s pretty normal to assume that neither parent should be out until 3am if they are raising kids unless the other parent agrees or its job related.
Of course she did not deserve the battering she got, but how many men or women out of 10 would not have been enraged if their partner went out until 3am on a social call while they stay home with the kids?
And if something had happened to her while she was out, he could not leave the kids alone, so the entire scenario is laden with wrongness.
I once had a friend helping me edit a video project (she was being paid) and her boyfriend called at midnight and basically whined because she was working when she should be home. I watched her face melt into dejection and resignation while on the phone talking to him. I would never treat a women that way if I trusted and respected her. She left soon after and I had to finish up the project by myself.
The manipulative men tend to have more women available to them because some women tend to not respect respectful men as much as they do the manipulative ones.
And the reverse is true for women. The manipulative women tend to have more men available to them because men seem drawn to that behavior more so than being drawn towards a respectful women.
The shorter answer is, maybe we care too much about people who may have the dumbest reasons for hooking up. We can look at this guy who beats a pregnant woman as lower than low, we can look at why this women feels comfortable being out a 3am and leaving her kids alone with this creep, (did she drink or smoke while she was out), or we could just assume that neither one really has the type of adult moral fiber or skill needed to raise a family, and pray for the kids.
Interesting, a South Carolina senator introduced this bill :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unborn_Victims_of_Violence_Act
Unfortunately, it only covers unborn victims in places like military bases or national parks. An unborn victim is SOL on the streets of Chicago.
em~ most people are out of luck on the streets of Chicago.
I won’t go to the White Sox game if I have to take the el home at night. And if I attend one of the concerts at Millennium Park, I don’t go alone if it means I’ll be by myself after 9:00. Not any more. There have even been shootings on Michigan Avenue in the wee small hours of the morning this year.
*shudders*
1000 bucks!
(B) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a person who violates the provisions of subsection (A) is guilty of the offense of criminal domestic violence and, upon conviction, must be punished as follows:
(1) for a first offense, the person is guilty of a misdemeanor and must be fined not less than one thousand dollars nor more than two thousand five hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days. The court may suspend the imposition or execution of all or part of the fine conditioned upon the offender completing, to the satisfaction of the court, and in accordance with the provisions of Section 16-25-20(H), a program designed to treat batterers. Notwithstanding the provisions of Sections 22-3-540, 22-3-545, and 22-3-550, an offense pursuant to the provisions of this subsection must be tried in summary court;
Here we go! If a fetus is not a human being in the earliest stages of a human life, then what is it? If you want to make the argument that a fetus is not a life becaue it cannot be sustained without assistance outside the womb, then we should have the ability to terminate all individuals that need extraneous assistance outside the womb! 👿
I totally agree with Carol and yttik. A fetus at any stage is a human life, and an abortion is a killing. That being said, I support a woman’s right to end that life. What I have found over the years is that doesn’t seem to make me “pro-choice” enough for most left-leaning women. Not only do they need me to support their right to abort their pregnancies, I also have to buy into the fantasy that they aren’t killing an unborn child.
In this case, it was wasn’t the woman asking for her unborn child to be killed. Someone else made the decision for her, and I am perfectly comfortable saying that is murder.
Yes, but why can’t the father decide to end the pregnancy? Isn’t it his unborn fetus also? 👿
Because he doesn’t have a womb and a womb is not shared property?
The father has a choice when he chooses not to protect his sperm. I do not have a problem if this same standard is applied to women, as long as there are exceptions for rape, incest, and health of the mother. In this day in this country, nearly everyone can avoid pregnancy, but a considerable number choose not to.
No. I don’t think he should be charged with murder. Neither do I think that society should go easy on a man who beats his pregnant girlfriend so badly that he causes her to miscarry. Why one would negate the other? I don’t really see this as the Catch 22 you seem to think it is.
They don’t negate each other, but the penalties for assault and battery are decidedly less than for taking a life.
Beating someone so badly that they miscarry should have very high penalties. I can’t even imagine how violently that poor woman must have been beaten.
Amen.
Its the violence perpetrated on that woman. Senseless and w/o much penalty that makes me ill.
That’s where I am with it. It’s not murder. but the penalty for abusing your domestic partner should be GREATER than the penalty for abusing a stranger, not lesser. At least that partner had a reasonable expectation of protection and safety based on the emotional bond and the affirmative action the abusing partner took by moving in together and consenting to having children and supporting them. The justice system has it backwards, mostly because it was developed by men for men, and is to this day largely operated by men.
I can’t begin to give you enough thumbs up to show how spot on your comment is.
I second that.
I believe some states now have harsher penalities for abusing your pet 😦
I would agree with you if this was the case, but it’s not. He’s not likely to penalized any more than if he had broken her arm and knocked out a few teeth.
I’d like to know more about the source of the rage that leads him to do what he did. Is there any info on that?
Example 1, he’s drunk, she hates being around him when he’s drunk, she goes out and stays out as late as possible hoping he won’t be drunk when she comes home. Instead she is beaten for trying to avoid being around him when she is drunk.
Example 2, She says “honey, it’s 9:00, I’m going to Erin’s, I’ll be back at 10:00. He tries calling her every 1/2 hour starting at 10:30, but there is no response. 10:30. 11:00, 11:30, 12:00, and so on, no response. At 3:00 am she comes in quietly to not wake anybody, he’s so enraged he thinks she’s trying to sneak in unnoticed and loses it.
Are both scenario’s equally bad? Just asking.
In Example 2, if it turns out she actually was doing something she probably shouldn’t have been doing, (such as partying or having an affair, and he can tell from her behavior when she gets home that that is what she was doing, perhaps she even admits it, does that change anything for anyone?).
Neither is acceptable under any circumstances. I just hope the woman doesn’t back out of prosecuting. That happens all the time.
No, there is no excuse for beating your spouse.
No matter what he did.
I think the woman should at least be able to sue for wrongful death.
It’s like being forced to undergo an abortion against your will (see China) – what is the proper criminal charge for that in the USA?
I agree. For me that’s what pro-choice stands for: no forced pregnancies and no forced abortions.
Lola
If you are here I apologize for being overly sensitive about your comment. I bought a nuisance bar and I am turning it around. Lots of resistance from the neighborhood and as I am doing everything the right way I am being attacked personally for my orientation. Small town and people talk. It gets tiring and I over reacted to your comment. In the end though the gay bashing I’m getting from the town drunks is serving as an asset. I don’t want their patronage but because they are giving me so much grief word is spreading about the place and I’ve even had the local clergy in. I have one woman attempting to sue me because she used the N word and I asked her to stop she wouldn’t so I gave her back her money removed her drink and asked her to leave. Too funny.
This isn’t going to stop .When you criticize a man for saying that he’s ROFL because of all the times he hears about men nearly choking a woman to death, and other women who consider themselves feminists call you an asshole for it, you have to know that there’s no hope in our lifetime. I think I’ll devote more time to the animal shelter. People there seem to care about their issue more.
That’s not quite how it went down, and anyone who wants to see the correct context can go to Uppity’s blog post for today and read through the comments. I’ve about had it with this passive/aggressive drive-by bullshit, and I’ve had it with people with serious issues spreading their version around like so much manure. At least get the context straight.
There are some people who will find misogyny in a block of wood, and for those, anything male is a target.
I have nothing more to say to you about this. I fully expect you to continue, but I will not be responding. I suggest you seek professional help.
It wasn’t drive-by. I post at Uppity’s fairly often. I’m not into gardening so I don’t read those posts much. But it’s clear that Uppity has a blog pet, and it doesn’t have 4 legs.
Beautiful girl: Dead at 17. Killed by her parents in what is euphemistically called an “honor killing.” Thought you might get a chuckle.
Yeek! Crikey, they can’t even recall the order of the comments clearly, much less make a meaningful case as to why domestic abuse is funny. But, apparently, it’s a laugh riot. No wonder domestic violence laws are so flexible. We can’t go spoiling everyone’s family fun. (sigh)
That’s why I prefer nesting comments, FTR.
You’re mischaracterizing this on purpose. No one said that domestic abuse is funny. And then to suggest that commenters would favor loose or flexible abuse laws is ridiculous. I’m surprised at you coming here to this blog, a blog you know is frequented by UW bloggers and continue this, it’s rather unseemly.
Are you replying to elliesmom or me? Because I don’t frequent UW and only learned of this BS because it was posted here. Anthony lay down the challenge to read the thread, I did, and I agree with elliesmom. If you don’t want an opinion, don’t ask for it.
Why? This is a blog post about domestic violence. It’s quite appropriate to talk about how domestic violence is talked about in the blogosphere.
And just for the record, I didn’t mention where it happened.
I repeat. The way you are characterizing the comments is not only false, but purposely false. I respect differences of opinion, but it has to go both ways. It was explained on the blog and you ignored those comments and cherry picked comments and mischaracterized them. That’s my opinion, and yes I’m entitled to it. I defended elliesmom for being entitled to her opinion on another blog as well as the radio program’s chat room. I got hammered on that blog too.
The men at that other blog don’t respect women. We aren’t going to change that. But I have hopes for Anthony.
Come on. “ROFL” directly responding via block quote to “Ex was Italian. The one who tried to choke me to death.” is pretty disturbing. I realize you all know each other but sometimes these friendly little chuckles are best left out of the public eye.
And FTR, it was Anthony who directed everyone to the UW blog, not elliesmom. But gawd forbid you recognize who the “turd-stirrer” is here.
the ROFL was in response to a general characterization of Italian men that I heard many times. Event he person who posted it explained that to you in great detail, to no avail. Get it straight before shooting your mouth off out of context. Everything with a penis is not the enemy. Jesus. Get a grip.
Still, I fail to see the humor in a man nearly choking a woman to death no matter what ethnicity he is.
No one “explained” anything to me. I dropped in, as per your instructions, read the comments, found myself in agreement with elliesmom, and before leaving pointed out the lack of continuity in the VAW-humor apologia.
Now, this is the funny part, and I’m sure you and I both will share a good laugh. After being admonished here, I returned to UW only to find that having a private blog is some kind of internet sin, so I posted an explanation that my “blog” is locked down because it’s unfinished and has been languishing in a state of half-done for about two years now only to find that I’ve been banned. Now that’s a first! I’ve been banned, after one comment, from a blog I don’t even frequent for simply pointing out that you folks might want to make your story and the comment timeline match.
Now, that’s some funny shit.
I’m not a victim of domestic violence myself. My dad was a gentle man and I married a gentle man. So I wasn’t really prepared for having a dear friend travel hundreds of miles to my doorstep to escape an abusive husband. What I can’t believe is that women who have experienced it themselves and were fortunate enough to escape alive now don’t understand the message that they are sending when they allow people to be so insensitive to the issue. It’s like it was no big deal. And If ever there was vindication for me that Anthony is the misogynist that I claim he is, it’s his telling me to get professional help. Putting women who dare to speak up in mental health facilities is a time-worn remedy for our speaking out.
I like Anthony, but I understand what you mean about this. I was yelled at in a chat room and hammered on another blog in much the same way.
I didn’t dislike Anthony. I just think that when you want to get rid of sexism and misogyny, you start in your own house. Many blogs hosted by women have a small group of men who comment there. In this case, the guy writes his own blog entries. Many women give these men liberties with sexism that they wouldn’t give men who just drop by. I was floored when I saw him quote PPM’s being half-choked to death followed by ROFL. If Myiq had done it, I would have been on a plane to CA to confront him in person because I know he knows better. Somebody needs to housebreak Anthony or he’s going to keep peeing on the rug. That’s a metaphor that the people there should understand. Because all of the little puddles end up a stinking mess.
Calling a woman “passive/ aggressive” and saying “they have issues” on a post about domestic violence, rape, or any other crime that impacts primarily women, is simple misogyny. Women of course are thought to be a humorless bunch who tend to react hysterically to everything and hate men.
Or we could just be reasonably distressed about the fact that so many of us are beaten and murdered by people who are supposed to love us.
Epic nesting fail, but in regards to, “Everything with a penis is not the enemy,” in threads about horrendous domestic violence, it often seems like some people’s first priority is to protect men’s reputations and how they are perceived.
I get it, men don’t like to be viewed as the enemy. Well, women don’t like to be beaten to death and murdered, either. I’m terribly sorry if women’s reality reflects badly on men, but that’s not really my first concern.
I am not taking sides here but this pie fight has flowed over three blogs already.
Please drop it.
I am closing this thread.