Missouri man arrested for murder of teen girlfriend who suspected she was pregnant

A 16-year-old girl was murdered in 2019 after she told her adult boyfriend she believed she was pregnant, and he has finally been arrested.

Key Takeaways:

• In 2019, Kristina Curry was shot and killed in the parking lot of her St. Louis high school, at the age of 16.

• Marquise Quinn, now 26, has been arrested for the crime.

• According to police, he lured Curry to the high school and shot her multiple times when she arrived.

The Details:

According to an affidavit from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, Quinn and Curry had been in a relationship, and Curry believed she was pregnant. Text messages between the two revealed that she told Quinn about the pregnancy, and he told her to meet him at a specific spot in the parking lot of Roosevelt High School.

The spot where Quinn told Curry to meet him is where her body was later found, surrounded by multiple shell casings on the ground.

‘You took her in the most violent manner’: Sister speaks after arrest in 2019 killing of teen girl

The sworn affidavit states:

The victim and defendant had been involved in a romantic relationship. The victim believed that she had become pregnant and that the defendant was father of the child. The parties communicated through text messages regarding the situation.

On or about May 22nd, 2019 the victim and defendant texted about meeting at Roosevelt High School. The defendant directed the victim to meet him at a specific spot on the Roosevelt High School grounds, which is the exact area of the school grounds where the victim's body was found. Text messages between the victim and Defendant show that both of the parties had arrived at Roosevelt High School. The text messages indicated that the defendant was the last person to be with the victim.

The victim's phone had last had the screen unlocked just after midnight on May 23rd, 2019. The police received a call for service regarding shots fired in the area of Roosevelt High School within a short time after the victim's phone was last unlocked. The victim's body was found later that morning by employees of the school.

The victim was found to have been shot several times. Five 9mm shell casings were found near the body.

Her mother, Christian Curry, told KDSK that her daughter — whom she had to bury just one month before her 17th birthday — loved her family, and was fond of gardening.

"This is hard. I don't eat. I don't sleep. None of that. Never would I would have ever thought this would have happened to me," she said. "I'm angry in which the matter it was done to her. It took something precious from us and this is something that is going to be hard for our family to process."

It took six years, but Quinn was finally charged with Curry's murder this week.

Zoom Out:

Curry is, tragically, far from alone. Pregnancy is one of the most dangerous times in a woman's life, particularly if the father does not want a baby and the mother refuses to have an abortion.

Homicide is a leading cause of death for pregnant women, ranking above all other causes of maternal mortality. It is such a major issue that health experts have called gun violence against pregnant women a "health emergency."

Go Deeper:

Study: Pregnant women more likely to die by homicide than by maternal illness

Misleading study links ‘anti-abortion’ laws to higher homicide rates for pregnant women

Abortion is not the answer to rising numbers of pregnant women dying by homicide 

If you are a victim of domestic violence, visit thehotline.org or call 1-800-799-SAFE.