Ga. Woman Charged With Murder, Held Without Bond After Taking Abortion Pill

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A Georgia woman is facing a murder charge after prematurely delivering a baby after taking an abortion pill, WALB reports.

Kenlissa Jones has been charged with malice murder and possession of a dangerous drug and was being held at the Dougherty County Jail without bond, the news station reports.

According to WALB, over the weekend, the 23-year-old took Cytotec, a drug she purchased online from a source in Canada, to induce an abortion and delivered her baby five-and-a-half months into her pregnancy in the car en route to a hospital.

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Her family was reportedly shocked, not having known that the woman, who has another child—a boy under 2 years of age—was pregnant.

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"At that point we didn't even know she was pregnant," her brother Rico Riggins told the news station. "And so my first real reaction was like, 'Why she keeping it away from us?'

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"Once she took those pills, from the way I'm understanding it, she was in a world of hurt for a while," Riggins said.

The baby, reportedly a boy, was delivered alive but died a half hour after Jones arrived at the hospital, according to the news report.

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"We lost what would have been a nephew for me. And everything. And then my sister," the brother said, saying that Jones' mother and grandmother are also grieving. "We're coping the best we can. We're hoping we get a lot of prayers. … I don't want anyone to be mad or upset with my family. At the end of the day, they are doing the best we can."

Riggins and his wife have reportedly been granted guardianship of Jones' remaining son while her case is ongoing.

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The news station notes that Georgia law does not permit abortions after the first trimester unless they are performed in a licensed medical facility. 

Read more at WALB.