{"id":333995,"date":"2025-07-11T10:53:45","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T15:53:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=333995"},"modified":"2025-07-10T17:46:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T22:46:13","slug":"prosecutor-death-penalty-murder-wife-preborn-baby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/prosecutor-death-penalty-murder-wife-preborn-baby\/","title":{"rendered":"Prosecutor seeks death penalty for man charged with murder of wife and preborn baby"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><p>Capital murder charges have been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msn.com\/en-us\/crime\/general\/hot-springs-village-police-identify-woman-found-dead-after-police-chase-confirm-pregnancy\/ar-AA1HpYvV?ocid=BingNewsSerp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">filed<\/a> against an Arkansas man in the deaths of his pregnant wife and preborn child. The prosecutor is seeking the death penalty.<\/p>\n<h2>Key Takeaways:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Stephen Keith Gantz was arrested and charged with two counts of capital murder in the deaths of his wife and their preborn child.<\/li>\n<li>The prosecuting attorney is seeking the death penalty.<\/li>\n<li>Gantz was arrested after he was seen shouting and running down a street near his home.<\/li>\n<li>Police took him into custody and then searched the home, finding the body of his wife.<\/li>\n<li>Homicide is a leading cause of death among pregnant women, exceeding all the leading health-related causes of maternal mortality.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>The Details:<\/h2>\n<p>Stephen Keith Gantz, 54, is facing two counts of capital murder \u2014 for the deaths of his wife <em>and<\/em> their preborn child \u2014 as well as charges of possession of a firearm and fleeing. Prosecuting attorney Michelle C. Lawrence is seeking the death penalty.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Defendant should receive the death penalty because of the presence of the aggravated circumstance codified as Ark. Code Ann. 5-4-604(3),&#8221; said Lawrence. &#8220;The Defendant, Stephen Keith Gantz, in the commission of the capital murder, knowingly created a great risk of death to a person other than the victim or caused the death of more than one (1) person in the same criminal episode.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>She also noted Gantz&#8217;s prior felony, which included &#8220;the use or threat of violence to another person or the creation of a substantial risk of death or serious physical injury to another person.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Prior to his arrest in June, a person had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msn.com\/en-us\/crime\/general\/hot-springs-village-police-identify-woman-found-dead-after-police-chase-confirm-pregnancy\/ar-AA1HpYvV?ocid=BingNewsSerp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">called<\/a> the police to report Gantz shouting and running down a street. Police drove to the area, took Gantz into custody, and searched his home. That&#8217;s when they found the body of his wife, Lourdes Del Carmen Nunez Brugos. The Arkansas Crime Laboratory later confirmed that she was pregnant at the time of her death.<\/p>\n<h2>The Big Picture:<\/h2>\n<p>Homicide is the <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/study-links-anti-abortion-laws-homicide-pregnant\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">leading cause of death<\/a> for pregnant women, exceeding all the leading health-related causes of maternal mortality. According to researchers, homicide deaths among pregnant women are more prevalent than deaths from hypertension disorders, hemorrhage, or sepsis. They <a href=\"https:\/\/hsph.harvard.edu\/news\/homicide-leading-cause-of-death-for-pregnant-women-in-u-s\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">called<\/a> gun violence &#8220;a health emergency for pregnant women.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Women are often <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s=homicide+a+leading+cause+of+death\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">targeted<\/a> by their babies&#8217; fathers if they refuse to abort despite coercion.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><i>Editor\u2019s Note: If you are a victim of domestic violence, please visit\u00a0<\/i><a href=\"http:\/\/thehotline.org\/\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>thehotline.org<\/i><\/span><\/a><i>\u00a0or call 1-800-799-SAFE.<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><b><i>Follow Live Action News on <\/i><\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveactionnewsonline\/\"><b><i>Facebook<\/i><\/b><\/a><b><i> and <\/i><\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/LiveActionOrg\/\"><b><i>Instagram<\/i><\/b><\/a><b><i> for more pro-life news.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Capital murder charges have been filed against an Arkansas man in the deaths of his pregnant wife and preborn child. The prosecutor is seeking the death penalty. Key Takeaways: Stephen Keith Gantz was arrested and charged with two counts of capital murder in the deaths of his wife and their preborn child. The prosecuting attorney [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":334210,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[15,3473],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Prosecutor seeks death penalty for man charged with murder of wife and preborn baby<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An Arkansas man is facing two counts of capital murder for the deaths of his wife and their preborn child. 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He had a prior felony.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/prosecutor-death-penalty-murder-wife-preborn-baby\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-11T15:53:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-10T22:46:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Screenshot-from-the.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nancy Flanders\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nancy Flanders\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/prosecutor-death-penalty-murder-wife-preborn-baby\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/prosecutor-death-penalty-murder-wife-preborn-baby\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Nancy Flanders\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/d61ca3dd1aacf12635bdf71d75c328ef\"},\"headline\":\"Prosecutor seeks death penalty for man charged with murder of wife and preborn baby\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-11T15:53:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-10T22:46:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/prosecutor-death-penalty-murder-wife-preborn-baby\/\"},\"wordCount\":426,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Analysis\",\"Newsbreak\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/prosecutor-death-penalty-murder-wife-preborn-baby\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/prosecutor-death-penalty-murder-wife-preborn-baby\/\",\"name\":\"Prosecutor seeks death penalty for man charged with murder of wife and preborn baby\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-11T15:53:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-10T22:46:13+00:00\",\"description\":\"An Arkansas man is facing two counts of capital murder for the deaths of his wife and their preborn child. 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