KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A man was taken into custody Monday after authorities said he was indicted for the murder of a pregnant woman's fetus and for assaulting her.
The Knoxville Police Department said Payton McCarty, 26, was indicted by a Knox County Grand Jury last week for felony murder, vehicular homicide, aggravated assault and attempted kidnapping.
They said on June 16, at around 2:45 a.m., officers responded in North Knoxville after a pregnant 27-year-old woman was found lying on the ground with life-threatening injuries.
She was taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center, where her fetus died. The woman was still hospitalized Monday and was receiving treatment for the injuries.
They said McCarty was the father of the child and he was in a domestic dispute with the woman when he either hit or dragged the woman with his car and left the scene.
When it happened, the fetus was considered viable "absent of exigent circumstances by medical professionals."