Norfolk, Va. - A Georgia man claiming to be the father of the baby at the center of an illegal abortion investigation in Norfolk is speaking out only to NewsChannel 3.
Norfolk police charged Jessica Carpenter and her friend Rachael Lowe with producing an illegal abortion or miscarriage in the death of Carpenter's son.
John Jones said just a few months ago, he and Carpenter were in love, engaged and expecting their first child together.
"She is a kind and loving woman," Jones said.
Now the son she was carrying is dead, and Carpenter and Lowe are charged with forcing Carpenter to miscarry six months into her pregnancy.
"Now I'm hearing that my son could have been purposely killed," said Jones, who reached out to NewsChannel 3 after seeing our news stories on wtkr.com. "[The baby] was a special individual. It may have just been to me but he's still special."
Jones said he and Carpenter got pregnant soon after they started dating in Georgia last year. He said they broke up in December and she moved to Virginia.
"She told me that he died of natural causes," Jones said Carpenter explained to him.
Court records say Carpenter delivered a baby boy at DePaul Hospital on April 11th, but he died there 20 minutes later. A search warrant affidavit for Carpenter's medical records says friends of Carpenter and Lowe later told Norfolk police the women searched for "ingestible items that would cause [Carpenter's] pregnancy to terminate" and that friends "heard direct statements from both [Carpenter and Lowe] that they purchased items from GNC to ingest and cause the pregnancy to terminate".
Jones said he hopes Carpenter is innocent, but if not "I believe she should face the maximum penalty," he said.
An autopsy report has not yet been made part of the case file. Carpenter and Lowe are due back in court for their preliminary hearing in August.
Related:
Court date set for Norfolk women charged in illegal abortion/miscarriage
