Posted by
Ikester on Wednesday, November 18, 2009 11:58:31 AM
LIFE DIGEST: Charge urged in Hasan’s killing of unborn child
By Tom Strode - Nov 17, 2009 -
The U.S. military should prosecute Army Maj. Nidal Hasan for 14 murders, not just 13, in the shooting rampage he conducted Nov. 5 at Fort Hood, Texas, the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) said.
Hasan has been charged in 13 deaths, but an additional charge should be added in the killing of the unborn child of Francheska Velez, who was three months pregnant when she was shot to death, ADF contended in a letter to the Staff Judge Advocate at Fort Hood. Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, it is a crime to cause the death of a child in his mother’s womb.
“All murder victims – born and preborn – deserve equal justice,” ADF Senior Legal Counsel Steven Aden said in a written release. “Women who volunteer to protect our country deserve to know that the government will enforce the laws that protect their children.”
Velez, 21, returned early from a tour of duty in Iraq after learning she was pregnant. She was preparing to take maternity leave, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.