A Pennsylvania man has been charged with first and third-degree murder of an unborn child, homicide of an unborn child, and abuse of a corpse after the murder of his pregnant girlfriend.
According to WTAJ, Dakota Greeley, 20, was arrested on November 9 after allegedly shooting 25-year-old Trisha Cole with a rifle. As he was fleeing police, Greeley ran over Cole’s body with his vehicle. Police found her with a gunshot wound to the head and a tire track over her body.
An investigation following the incident revealed that Cole was pregnant. According to hospital staff who testified after Cole’s death, Cole had discovered her pregnancy during an October 23 medical visit; at that time, Greeley immediately asked, “Can we kill it now?” Hospital staff said Greeley also asked for information about aborting the preborn child.
Greeley also allegedly made statements that further indicated his anger at Cole’s pregnancy. Explore Jefferson PA reports that police interviewed a male who said Greeley told him his life was ruined due to Cole being pregnant and that he wanted to “kick” and “beat the child out of (Cole).”
After the shooting, Greeley was apprehended by police. In a police interview, he is quoted as saying, “I f***ing shot her.”
READ: Man charged with double homicide for killing girlfriend who refused abortion
Homicide is the leading cause of death among pregnant women in the United States. According to The BMJ, women in the U.S. are more likely to be murdered during pregnancy or soon after childbirth than to die from the three top obstetric causes of maternal death. The Family Violence Prevention Fund also reports that women are more likely to die by homicide while pregnant at the hands of their partner than to die by any other cause.
Live Action News has reported on a number of cases in which a woman was murdered because she refused to abort her child. Last year, 18-year-old Kaylin Fiengo was killed by her boyfriend after refusing an abortion. In 2021, U.S. Olympic boxer Félix Verdejo-Sánchez threw his girlfriend off a bridge because she refused to abort their preborn child. In 2018, 17-year-old Breana Rouhselang was murdered by her baby’s father when she was six months pregnant because he claimed she waited too long to tell him about the pregnancy to get an abortion.
