FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, October 19, 2017
On Wednesday Pulaski County Circuit Judge Herb Wright acquitted a North Little Rock man of murdering an unborn child. In 2015, Quenton King of North Little Rock allegedly shot his mistress who was eight months pregnant, killing both her and her unborn child. The judge acquitted King of murdering the unborn baby, because, he said, prosecutors failed to demonstrate the child was alive at the time.
Family Council President Jerry Cox released a statement, saying, “This is ludicrous. No one should have to prove a person was alive prior to being murdered. We know from court testimony that the woman was eight months pregnant when she was shot. Children born prematurely at eight months routinely go on to live healthy lives. Arkansas law says a person can be charged with murder for causing the death of an unborn child. Judge Wright’s decision in this case ignores Arkansas’ homicide laws, and it ignores the life of this unborn baby.”
Cox called Judge Wright’s decision abusive. “Murder trials exist in part to provide justice for the victims. Judge Wright’s decision denies justice to one of those victims. It would be one thing if a jury had reviewed the case and determined there was not enough evidence to find the defendant guilty. Rather than letting a jury decide if the child was alive, Judge Wright has made that decision for them even though there was no evidence indicating the baby was dead prior to the shooting. The Arkansas Constitution says a judge can be impeached for gross misconduct. If this is not gross misconduct, I don’t know what is.”
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Photo Credit: By Brian Turner (Flickr: My Trusty Gavel) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.
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