Three Long Beach teens accused of plotting to kill fetus
A Long Beach teenager who wanted his pregnant girlfriend to miscarry allegedly conspired with two other teens to have his girlfriend attacked, punched in the stomach and kidnapped in separate attacks, according to prosecutors.
The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office has charged all three teens with half a dozen felonies in connection with the attacks, which occurred earlier this year.
The boyfriend, Angel Contreras, 17, and two female acquaintances, Claudia Rodriguez, 18, and Candy Patricio, 19, each face two counts of attempted murder, two counts of conspiracy to commit murder, one count of kidnapping and one count of assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury, prosecutors announced Tuesday.
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Contreras reportedly planned with Rodriguez and Patricio to attack his pregnant girlfriend to cause a miscarriage, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Troy Davis of the victim impact program.
The woman was 13 weeks into her pregnancy and both she and the fetus are OK, said Sarah Ardalani, a district attorney’s spokeswoman. The victim’s age was not released, but she is an adult, Ardalani said.
On March 4, as the girlfriend was walking to Contreras’ home, she was allegedly accosted and punched in the stomach by Rodriguez and Patricio, the prosecutor said.
Less than three weeks later, Contreras and his girlfriend boarded a bus and the boyfriend alerted Patricio and Rodriguez of their location so they could assault her again, according to the prosecutor.
When the girlfriend exited the bus, she was reportedly assaulted by the female teens, who unsuccessfully tried to drag her into a car, the prosecutor said. A passer-by saw the attack and saved the victim from the kidnapping attempt.
The three defendants were scheduled for arraignment on Monday, but the proceeding was continued to May 31.
It is not the first unusual pregnancy or childbirth case the Long Beach Police Department has investigated. Last year, three people pleaded not guilty to charges in connection with the kidnapping and slaying of a 3-week-old baby girl.
The death of Eliza Delacruz was part of a disturbing plot to convince Giseleangelique Rene D’Milian’s married boyfriend that she had given birth to twins, Long Beach police said at the time.
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