Pikeville, KY — A Pike County, Kentucky man originally charged with double murder in the traffic death of a pregnant woman on her way to give birth pleaded guilty Friday to reduced charges. However, an unanswered question in the case — Is an unborn child a person under Kentucky law? — remains and could end up in the state's highest court.
In a plea agreement, Charles Christopher Morris, 29, of Zebulon, Kentucky pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree manslaughter in the deaths of Veronica Jane Thornsbury, 22, of Kimper and her nearly full-term unborn child.
In accepting the agreement, Pike Circuit Judge Charles Lowe Jr. let stand a homicide charge against Morris in the death of the baby. The agreement, however, allows Morris to appeal the homicide charge, which attracted nationwide attention from abortion-related groups this year.
Other Kentucky residents have been charged with murder in the death of a fetus, but the state Supreme Court has ruled that even a viable fetus is not a human being.
Morris agreed to accept two 10-year prison terms to be served concurrently, but he would be eligible for parole after serving 20 percent of his sentence. It means that Morris, who has been in jail for seven months, could be eligible for parole in about 15 months.
The victim's husband, Troy Thornsbury, was driving her to the hospital March 24 on U.S. 119 near Pikeville when he stopped at a red light, preparing to make a left turn, police said. Morris, whose driving record included at least 10 speeding tickets and a DUI conviction, ran the light at a high rate of speed and slammed into the car's passenger-side door, police said.
In court Friday, Lowe said he had been considering a motion to dismiss the second murder charge by Morris' defense attorney, Stephen Owens of Pikeville, who argued that under Kentucky case law, even a viable unborn child is not considered a person. Lowe had not ruled on that issue, but he said for the purposes of accepting the plea agreement, he was rejecting Owens' motion.
Both the victim's family and investigators, as well as Morris, agreed to plea-bargain the case, said special prosecutor George Moore of Mount Sterling. But he said that does not diminish its significance. Morris “pleaded guilty to the death of the child,” Moore said, “but he will be appealing whether that case could be prosecuted. And the appeals court will still have to decide that issue.”
Investigators said Jane Thornsbury died before she could be removed from the wreckage. A doctor performed a caesarean section in the ambulance en route to the hospital but said the baby was not breathing.
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