{"id":296654,"date":"2023-08-18T10:37:56","date_gmt":"2023-08-18T15:37:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=296654"},"modified":"2023-08-17T22:13:45","modified_gmt":"2023-08-18T03:13:45","slug":"alleged-killer-photos-deceased-preborn-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/alleged-killer-photos-deceased-preborn-court\/","title":{"rendered":"Alleged killer’s attorneys oppose showing autopsy photos of 14-week preborn child in court"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Prosecutors in a murder case have asked<\/a> the judge to allow the inclusion of autopsy photos of the preborn child who was killed along with his\/her mother when she was 14 weeks pregnant. The attorneys for the defendant are hoping to prevent that.<\/p>\n

The trial for Rafiq Thompson, 40, is scheduled to begin on September 5. He is facing charges of first- and third-degree murder, murder of an unborn child, possession of a prohibited firearm and firearms not to be carried without a license in connection with the April 8, 2022, fatal shooting<\/a> of 31-year-old Tamara Cornelius and her child.<\/p>\n

Cornelius and Thompson were an ex-couple, and he allegedly shot her four times while she was pumping gas at a gas station in Upper Merion, Pennsylvania. Text messages between Thompson and Cornelius show that she had identified him as the father of the baby.<\/p>\n

Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele asked Judge William R. Carpenter to allow the jury to see two autopsy photos of the baby when the trial begins. He presented the judge with the photos and the judge is considering allowing them.<\/p>\n

Co-prosecutor Samantha A. Arean told Carpenter that just because a doctor can take the stand and describe the baby’s wounds to the jury does not mean it is unnecessary to show the jury the images of the child in order to help them understand the crime.<\/p>\n

\u201cPhotos serve to enhance that understanding,\u201d Arena wrote in court documents.<\/p>\n

Steele noted, “There are two photos of an unborn child. One of the charges against the defendant, in this case, is the murder of an unborn child. They show that this was a fetus in the mother\u2019s womb.”<\/p>\n