Mixed reactions in their hundreds have trailed the demand of an unborn child for the release of its expectant mother by the name Natalia Harrell, from a jail in Florida, USA.
The pregnant woman had written the petition demanding her release, on behalf of her unborn baby.
After reportedly shooting a woman in a crowded Uber, the mother of the unborn child is currently in Florida awaiting trial for second-degree murder.
The victim, Gladys Yvette Borcela was killed on July 23, 2022, and Harrell was arrested and charged with her murder last year after video evidence from inside a crowded Uber allegedly showed Harrell pull out a revolver and shoot Borcela as the two were arguing.
After being shot once in the chest, Borcela passed away from her wounds.
As she awaits her second-degree murder trial, Natalia Harrell is being held without bond in a cell at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Facility.
However, her attorney is now arguing that the fetus and, by extension, its mother should be released from custody because the unborn child’s “constitutionally protected due process rights have been clearly violated,” according to a new court filing that names Harrell’s unborn child as the petitioner.
Harrell’s attorney claims in the most recent filing, obtained by Fox News, that she fired at the victim because they “threatened Ms. Harrell with physical bodily injury” and she “was in fear of her life and the life of her unborn child.”
She “did not have the benefit of competent counsel” to advocate for her when a “no bond” warrant was issued, her attorney said.
According to the complaint, Harrell, who is reportedly eight months along, had “inadequate prenatal care” for her unborn child.
It alleges that despite making many requests for it, officials neglected to bring her to doctor’s appointments or give her prenatal supplements.
Harrell’s attorney is requesting release on the grounds that an unborn baby kid should be considered as a “person” under Florida law adding that; “the UNBORN CHILD has not committed any crime, nor has the State of Florida, the Respondents or Miami Dade State Attorney put forward any allegations that the UNBORN CHILD committed a criminal offense.”
It adds: “UNBORN CHILD seeks immediate release from custody of and detention by Respondents in order to: (1) receive necessary immediate medical care and treatment from the OB-GYN physician at Jackson Hospital; (2) be free from unlawful and illegal detention by Respondents; (3) avoid entering the world on the concrete floor of the prison cell and without the medical care and treatment by competent physicians and nurses; and avoid being subject to disparate and adverse treatment by Respondents; and (4) avoid being placed in an inherent dangerous environment at the county detention center which subjects UNBORN CHILD to serious bodily injury or death.”
Attorneys for Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Director James Reyes responded to the complaint by stating that Harrell had “at least four obstetrician appointments outside of the jail and, notably, refused to attend a fifth.”
They claimed that she has also been given daily offers of prenatal vitamins for months but has turned them down “on more than one occasion” and refused to let nurses check her fetal heart rate. Additionally, they assert that when she reaches 36 weeks pregnant, she will be moved to a hospital where she will give birth.
In a statement to Law&Crime, the Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation Department said they collaborate with Jackson Health System “to provide healthcare to the inmates in our custody, and we are committed to ensuring all inmates receive professional, timely medical care and all appropriate treatment.”
“We are conducting a full review of the health services offered and received to ensure that all pre-natal care being provided in our custody is appropriate,” the statement concluded.
See some reactions below;
An Instagram user with the user name, lynnleon4100, wrote; “If you want to look at the fetus as a separate person. Then the fetus was also in the vehicle at the time of the murder, and therefore should be charged as an accessory to a crime. In most states, being a participant to a crime, even though you did not shoot the weapon, hold you at the same level of liability.”
Obviously in disagreement, @msbmjt522 wrote; “Soo.. she wants to be released bc of her baby? I’m pretty sure when she gives birth there will be a doctor and they will take the baby to be adopted or foster care or something and the mother will remain in jail”
Agreeing to the pepttiom, another user, @bmo_rose_mo wrote, “Surprisingly, I agree with this petition. A fetus should not be subject to developmental whoas suffered due to the incarceration of the adult baring the child. After the individual has given birth, what lever measures taken should then be reversed.
“Who knows what damage a developing fetus is suffering due to diet, sleep habits and environmental conditions in custody.”
On the possibility of how things can turn, @ms.jojolene commented, “The mom is the legal guardian, the baby can sue the mom for child endangerment, false imprisonment and neglect after it’s born.”
Providing details of the victim, @dutchelicious, noted that, “The woman she shots has 3 kids waiting for a mom to return home. It is so sad the left her on the backseat to die. And those woman’s kids are confronted with this. Where are there rights?”
@stopyrnonsense stated, “Well, she won’t get anywhere because the Democrats say you can abort up till birth and that a fetus isn’t a human till birth! By then, she’ll have the baby and it will go to foster care and adoption so she will have no case.”
