Trumbull County grand jury declines charges in miscarriage case under national spotlight
by: Joe Gorman, Stan Boney

Posted: Jan 11, 2024 / 01:31 PM EST

WARREN, Ohio (WKBN) — A Trumbull County grand jury Thursday declined to indict a woman charged with abuse of a corpse after she said she had a miscarriage.

The grand jury issued a no bill in the case of Brittany Watts, 34, who was facing a fifth-degree felony abuse of a corpse charge following a miscarriage she had in September.

For less than a minute Thursday, Watts spoke to a crowd in Warren’s Courthouse Square that came out to support her about her legal ordeal — and how she will not be indicted on the charges stemming from her miscarriage.

“I am truly thankful for each and every one of you that have come out. My family, all of my friends, those of you I don’t know, and I am truly honored and grateful that you have come to support me, and we are not done fighting,” she said.

The case sparked outrage from abortion rights and women’s rights groups.

Investigators said they found a baby stuck in a toilet at her home Sept. 22, which is when Watts was charged. Police said she was trying to plunge the toilet.

Forensic Pathologist Dr. George Sterbenz testified during a grand jury investigation that Watts had sought medical treatment twice before the miscarriage. An autopsy found no injury to the fetus and showed it died before passing through the birth canal.

Watts’ lawyer, Traci Timko, said in an Associated Press story in December that her client was sitting at St. Joseph Warren Hospital for eight hours awaiting treatment while officials there tried to decide how to treat the symptoms of her pregnancy under Ohio’s abortion laws.

“We have said from Day 1, of all of this, that Ohio law did not — does not — never supported these charges,” Timko said. “They send you home to miscarry. They don’t send you home with a body bag. They don’t send you home with directions on what to do with the remains.”

The Associated Press said Watts had begun passing blood clots and her doctor said that, while a fetal heartbeat was still present, Watts’ water had broken prematurely and the fetus she was carrying would not survive. He advised heading to the hospital to have her labor induced, so she could have what amounted to an abortion to deliver the nonviable fetus. Otherwise, she would face a “significant risk” of death, according to records of her case.

Timko said Thursday she was “grateful” the grand jury issued a no bill in the case and she thanked supporters of her client on the national and local level.

“I’m incredibly relieved,” Timko said. “We’re grateful the grand jury did the right thing here. Brittany can now go on with her life and begin to heal.”

On Jan. 11, Dennis Watkins with the Trumbull County Prosecutor’s Office, released a lengthy statement that both summarized the case as well as critiqued the lower court’s handling of the legal process.

“This office … after researching and applying the law, believes that Brittany Watts did not violate the Ohio criminal statute of abuse of corpse as alleged in the complaint. We respectfully disagree with the lower courts’ application of the law,” the statement reads.

The full statement from Watkins can be read below:

WATTS-news-releaseDownload
A “Rally in Support of Brittney Watts” was held Thursday afternoon in Warren. It had been planned before the grand jury decision, but organizer Pastor Todd Johnson said the tone of the rally changed following the news.

Watts’ cousin Chauncey Harris Sr. read a statement from Watts.

“‘I knew early on the most intimate details would be judged and debated in a public forum,” Harris read. “‘But I’ve been thrust into a foreign world. The unexpected and tragic lives of my baby and arrest, criminal charges, attorneys, national media and swatting call to my home on Christmas Day.'”

Watts herself addressed the crowd that gathered to show support.

“I want to thank my community — Warren. Warren, Ohio. I was born here. I was raised here. I graduated high school here, and I’m going to continue to stay here because I have to continue to fight,” she said.