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9:42 a.m. • 2-9-12

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DA files murder charges in newborn twins' deaths


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Gregory Chapman
Gregory Chapman

A man charged in the shooting of a pregnant woman now faces two counts of murder in connection with her twins' deaths, Duplin County's district attorney announced Wednesday.

U.S. Marshals arrested Gregory Chapman, 22, of 706 W. Hayes St. in Burgaw, last Monday in New York City in connection with the May 26 shooting of Lisa Wallace.

Wallace, 29, was five months' pregnant when she was shot outside a Warsaw apartment complex while watching fireworks. She delivered the twins, who died immediately, the next day.

District Attorney Dewey Hudson said in a news release that his decision to charge Chapman with murder was based on further consultation with law enforcement and medical doctors. At issue was whether the babies had taken a breath before they died and whether their deaths were caused as a result of the shooting.

North Carolina law does not recognize the death of a fetus or unborn child as a result of a violent crime as a homicide.

Chapman was extradited to North Carolina last week and was in jail Wednesday under a $2 million bond on charges of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury and discharging a weapon into occupied property.

He is expected to make his first court appearance Thursday on the two murder charges, as well as a charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

RELATED TOPICS: Hayes Barton

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Can you charge someone for killing a fetus when that someone couldn't tell the person was pregnant? I can't see someone being tried for first degree murder of a fetus that the defendant didn't know was there. I can see stronger laws needed on this, but there has to be a line somewhere.

HE KILLED THREE PEOPLE. THE LAW NEEDS TO BE CHANGED.

onpointe - Exactly. And the reason states don't have fetal murder allowances is to protect doctors in the case of late-term abortions from being charged with murder or manslaughter.

That needs to be changed.

onpointe- my thoughts exactly.

same people? I can't figure from reading the article what people you might be referringto.

Why is it that babies are aborted at this gestational age and no one bats en eye?

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