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]