Pregnancy And Murder: Md. Woman Killed By Fiancé Joins Growing Trend
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A Maryland man who was convicted of killing his pregnant fiancée now waits to learn if he will serve a life sentence.
Two years after he brutally stabbed his pregnant fiancée and left her to die inside a Montgomery County apartment, prosecutors scored a conviction against Thierry Nkusu in what they say has become an epidemic of violence against expecting mothers.
Prosecutors say the law only allowed them to seek justice for the mother, not the unborn child in this case, because of the age of the fetus.
More and more often, they're handcuffed by the law as these kinds of cases continue to rise.
"This is a horrible crime. This is a man who killed the woman he was engaged to, and who killed his own child. There will be a day of reckoning for him before a judge," Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy said.
Reckoning and sentencing in what has become one of an epidemic of murders of pregnant women.
"We've unfortunately had to do the research on this topic before. We're aware of the phenomena where women are killed almost principally or exclusively because they are pregnant, because the father of the child doesn't want the child," McCarthy said.
Fathers have become felons in an attempt to sever their relationships with the mother or the child.
The CDC reports out of 10,000 women nationwide, more than half of them died at the hand of a current or former partner. Fifteen percent were pregnant.
"He is a monster, and he is a liar," said Mark Wallen, Laura Wallen's father.
Mark Wallen sat side-by-side with his daughter's accused killer last year.
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Tyler Tessier plead with the public for the return of his missing girlfriend and mother of his child, Laura Wallen. He has now been charged in her death.
Police say he lured 31-year-old high school teacher Laura Wallen to a field in Damascus.
The field was the location that investigators found her body in a shallow grave -- shot execution style.
Her family, like so many others, were left to mourn two lives lost at the hand of the person who was supposed to cherish them most.
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"It defies description, the awfulness and the horror we've been put through on this," Mark Wallen said.
The case is expected to go to trial this summer.
Experts say women in dangerous relationships should get help immediately. There are 24 shelters in Maryland for victims of domestic violence. Find more information here.
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