SAN JOSE, Calif., Dec. 27 (UPI) -- A California man was in jail Monday, awaiting a possible murder charge for allegedly beating up his pregnant girlfriend and causing her unborn child to die.
The San Jose Mercury News said that Clifford Watkins faced a varity of charges that could include homicide under the same law that resulted in a capital double-murder conviction for Scott Peterson.
The alleged beating occurred in a motel on the outskirts of San Jose on Christmas Eve -- the same day that Peterson murdered his wife, Laci, in 2002 -- and caused the fetus to be declared dead following an emergency delivery 10 hours later.
The newspaper said an autopsy on the 18-week fetus would be performed Monday to determine a cause of death. California law states that an assault on a pregnant woman that leads to the death of the unborn child can be prosecuted as a murder.
The mother's name and the extent of her injuries were not immediately released.
