OSSIPEE, N.H. – A New Hampshire man faced charges in court Monday for the alleged murder of a pregnant woman and her unborn child, marking the state’s first instance of prosecuting someone for the death of a fetus due to multiple blunt force injuries.
William Kelly, 28, appeared in Carroll County Superior Court in Ossipee accompanied by his attorney, Caroline Smith. Choosing not to address the judge, Smith indicated plans to file paperwork stating Kelly’s decision to waive his arraignment and plead not guilty.
Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Mitchell Weinberg identified the victim, Christine Falzone, 33, as being approximately 35 to 37 weeks pregnant at the time of her death in December.
The legislation passed in 2017 considers a fetus at 20 weeks of development and beyond as an individual for the purpose of criminal prosecution of murder, with Republican Governor Chris Sununu enacting it into law, effective in 2018.
Michael Garrity, a spokesperson for the attorney general’s office, confirmed that Kelly’s case was the first time the state had pursued murder charges in connection with a fetus’s death.
Following a Carroll County grand jury indictment on Friday on two counts of second-degree murder, Kelly stands accused of recklessly causing the death of both Falzone and her unborn child, as stated in the indictment.
Once forensic test results become available, lawyers anticipate scheduling a hearing in June and a possible trial date in 2025.
Held without bail, Kelly has a history of criminal convictions, with a recent one for assault in 2019.
Initially held on a single second-degree murder charge related to Falzone’s death in December, Kelly’s arrest unfolded when police discovered Falzone unconscious and unresponsive at the Ossipee residence she shared with Kelly, prompting questions about the unborn child’s paternity.