LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A jury convicted a man Thursday of capital murder for hiring others to beat his pregnant girlfriend and kill her fetus.
Erik Bullock, 30, received an automatic sentence of life in prison because prosecutors did not seek the death penalty. He also was convicted of first-degree battery, which carries a 20-year sentence.
The case was the first brought under Arkansas' Fetal Protection Act. The 1999 law allows murder charges if a fetus in at least the 12th week of gestation dies as the result of a violent crime.
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Derrick Witherspoon, 18, and Lonnie Beulah, 17, who are accused of beating Shiwona Pace, are awaiting trial on capital murder charges. Their brother, Eric Beulah, 22, is serving a 40-year prison sentence.