Representative Debbie Riddle Joins Call For 14th Fort Hood Murder Charge

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) December 17, 2009 -- AUSTIN - State Representative Debbie Riddle has joined 30 of her colleagues in
respectfully requesting that the Army charge Major Nidal Malik Hassan with the
murder of an unborn child.

Private Francheska Velez, one of the 13 recognized victims of the massacre in
Fort Hood, was nine weeks pregnant when she was gunned down by Hassan on
November 5.

Velez was only 21 years old, and had just returned from a tour in Iraq that was
shortened on account of her pregnancy. Media reports indicate that she was set

to be sent back to her hometown of Chicago this month. Now, Riddle and the other
members of the Texas Conservative Coalition have sent a letter to Army Secretary
John McHugh asking that Hassan be held responsible for the death of Velez's
baby.

"Each of the 14 souls that were stolen by this monster and his cowardly act of
terrorism were innocent," Riddle said. "But none were more innocent than the
unborn child whose life never even had a chance to fully begin."

In the letter sent last Wednesday, the legislators point to a provision in the

Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) which states that anyone who is
committing an illegal act that causes the death of a child in utero shall be
charged with a separate crime, just as if the violence had been committed
against the child's mother.

"Indeed, such action would underscore the fundamental point that unborn children
must be afforded the same legal protections against offenses that can be
committed against individuals, such as homicide," the letter states.

The UCMJ statute mirrors a similar act passed in 2003 by the 78th Texas

Legislature, which provides that someone who commits a crime that causes the
death or injury of an unborn child can be charged as if the crime was committed
against someone who was born.

Representative Riddle was a coauthor of the House version of the measure.

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