Arraignment set for man who kicked pregnant woman

Clutching a pink plastic rosary, Jessica Jones told Court Commissioner Paul Baxter Wednesday about the night her former boyfriend, Tracy KirPatrick Humbert, could have killed their unborn child.

He came home, she said, smelling of alcohol and with white powder residue by his nose. When he saw Jones had packed his clothes, Humbert got angry and said he wasn’t leaving.

“He pushed me so hard I bounced off the bed,” she said, and she fell to the floor. Humbert then stomped on her lower abdomen three times while wearing tennis shoes.

After the first kick, Jones said, “I basically told him, I said, ‘You’re gonna kill your kid.’” He told her he didn’t care and stomped on her stomach again. She curled up to protect her unborn baby.

“Was there a third kick?” asked District Attorney Dan Blank.

“Yes,” Jones said, crying.

But she fought back.

“I sat up like I was trying to get up and I covered my stomach,” she said. “Then I bit him in the finger and punched him in the eye. He backed off.”

Jones was able to leave the apartment and call 911.

Humbert, 34, was charged with one felony count of aggravated battery to an unborn child and misdemeanor counts of battery and resisting an officer for the March 27 incident.

Baxter found probable cause Wednesday to bind Humbert over for arraignment following testimony from Jones and Conrad Hanstein, an emergency room physician at St. Mary’s Hospital of Superior.

Hanstein treated Jones after the incident.

“She was quite tender in the abdomen,” he said, and had bruises to her ear. Hanstein ordered an ultrasound of her abdomen to check for placental abruption, which can cause miscarriage or lack of oxygen to the brain of the fetus. The doctor found there was a possible abruption of the placenta, which carries oxygen and nutrients to the fetus.

“I advised her there was a danger she may miscarry,” Hanstein told the court. “The baby appeared to still be alive. It was also possible the pregnancy could go to term.”

A follow-up exam showed the baby is well at this point, Jones testified.

Humbert’s attorney, Public Defender Leslie Dollen, asked her if Humbert was excited about having a baby.

“Yes,” she said.

Dollen asked Jones if she felt it was his intent to hurt her or the baby.

“I don’t know,” she said. “I can’t answer that.”

Dollen questioned the lack of bruising or visible marks on Jones’ abdomen. She also made a point of asking Hanstein whether other conditions, such as smoking, could cause a placental abruption. He agreed they could, but said the most plausible explanation for the abruption would be assault.

With the fetus doing fine, Dollen argued, there was no basis for the felony charge. Baxter disagreed. The arraignment was set for May 19 with Judge Michael Lucci. Humbert remains in custody at the Douglas County Jail in lieu of $5,000 cash bail.

Tags: pregnant, woman, alcohol, tennis, shoes