CHICAGO — A Back of the Yards man was held on $700,000 bond Thursday after he allegedly beat up his pregnant girlfriend and caused the death of her unborn child earlier this month.
Jovanny Martinez, 23, was charged with homicide of an unborn child, felony aggravated domestic batter and felony aggravated battery of a pregnant victim, police said.
Prosecutors said Martinez lived with his pregnant girlfriend in the 4700 block of South Paulina Street. The two have an 11-month-old child together, but Martinez was not the father of the unborn baby, said Assistant State's Attorney Christina Brewer.
On July 9, Martinez and his girlfriend began arguing about the pregnancy, said Brewer. The argument turned violent when Martinez allegedly began punching his girlfriend in the stomach repeatedly, Brewer said.
"Soon after the beating, the victim thought that her water broke, but when she looked, she saw that she was bleeding," Brewer told a Cook County Court judge on Thursday.
After the attack, the 25-year-old girlfriend was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital where she delivered a stillborn daughter, who was pronounced dead at 2:44 p.m. on July 9, officials said.
Initially, Martinez's girlfriend told police she was attacked by a group of women and one man at about 11 p.m. on July 8 in the 4800 block of South Laflin Street after the group had asked her gang affiliation, police said.
But Martinez's girlfriend later identified him as the one who assaulted her, police said.
Cook County Judge Laura Sullivan ordered Martinez held on $700,000 bond Thursday.
Prosecutors said Martinez was on probation for a 2012 felony burglary conviction at the time of the attack, and he also has two misdemeanor convictions.