Investigators say a suspicious miscarriage report uncovered an alleged plan involving pills ordered online.
THE WOODLANDS, Texas — A hospital report of a suspicious miscarriage led Montgomery County investigators to a felony indictment against a 25-year-old Spring man accused of secretly giving abortion medication to a pregnant woman.
The case began before the courthouse news conference, before the grand jury vote and before prosecutors described it as potentially historic. It began with deputies responding Feb. 21 to a hospital in The Woodlands, where a woman had delivered a stillborn child after she said she feared she had been drugged. Authorities later identified Jon Rueben Gabriel Demeter as the father of the child and charged him in connection with the stillbirth.
Investigators said the woman told deputies that Demeter had tried more than once to persuade her to end the pregnancy. She also said he had offered to pay for her to travel out of state for an abortion, according to sheriff’s officials. The woman said she refused and intended to keep the baby. The child was later named Presley Mae. The pregnancy was about 14 weeks along, officials said. A warrant account reported by local news said the woman had visited Demeter’s apartment, drank what he described as a “passion fruit” electrolyte drink and later suffered cramping and bleeding. Another account said she told investigators the drink tasted bitter and fizzy. Deputies and detectives then began tracing what the woman had consumed, what Demeter had allegedly purchased and whether medication had been administered without her consent.
Demeter was arrested Feb. 23 and initially charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon causing serious bodily injury in a family violence case. At the time, sheriff’s officials said the charge could be upgraded as the investigation continued. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, the District Attorney’s Office and the Medical Examiner’s Office worked on the case. Detectives later said they found that Demeter had obtained abortion medication online and had it shipped to his home. Sheriff Wesley Doolittle said investigators believe Demeter crushed the medication and mixed it into a water bottle with a liquid I.V. packet. At a May 20 news conference, Doolittle said the alleged act was done “with a specific intent to cause the death of the child.” Officials said abortion-inducing drugs were found at a residence during execution of a search warrant.
The case took a new turn when a Montgomery County grand jury returned indictments on performance of an abortion and injury to a child. Both charges are first-degree felonies. District Attorney Mike Holley said the abortion charge may be the first use of the Texas statute under the circumstances alleged in the case. Holley said the law includes narrow medical exceptions, but prosecutors do not believe any exception applies to Demeter. He said Demeter was not a medical professional and had no license to perform a medical procedure. Prosecutors also said the indictment should not be read as a case about a consensual abortion. They said it concerns an alleged drugging, the lack of consent and the harm to the woman and unborn child.
The grand jury allegations refer to a substance, drug, medicine or other means administered to a pregnant woman in February without her knowledge or consent. Prosecutors say that act caused Presley Mae’s death and caused serious bodily injury. Doolittle said the stillborn child weighed about 55 grams and was developed at about 14 weeks. “She had 10 fingers, 10 toes and an entire lifetime of possibilities ahead of her,” Doolittle said. Authorities have not released the mother’s name. They also have not publicly released the full medical findings, toxicology details or all records tied to the alleged online pill purchase. Officials did say Detective Brandon Bartoskewitz was the lead investigator and Chief Prosecutor Laura Hill is handling the case in the 221st District Court.
Demeter’s status also changed after the indictment. He had been held in the Montgomery County Jail without bond after his February arrest. After the first-degree felony indictments, a judge set bond at $150,000 on each charge, for a total of $300,000. The District Attorney’s Office later said Demeter posted bond and was released May 28. Each charge carries a punishment range of five years to life in prison if he is convicted. His attorney, Aaron Holt, declined to comment to local media. Reports citing a warrant account said Demeter admitted ordering abortion medication online and giving the woman the drink, but denied that the bottle contained the pills. The same account said he told investigators he had given the pills away. Prosecutors have not publicly detailed how they will address that denial in court.
The hospital call now sits at the center of a case that reaches beyond the first emergency response. Officials say they are examining the online source of the medication with help from the Texas Attorney General’s Office. The website issue may become a separate investigative thread, while the criminal case against Demeter focuses on what prosecutors say happened between him and the woman. Hill said the allegations describe conduct that is “deeply troubling and profoundly harmful.” Holley said his office will pursue justice based on facts, evidence and state law. Doolittle said the Sheriff’s Office would continue to follow every lead. The defense has not laid out its case publicly, and Demeter is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
The next milestones are expected to come in district court, where prosecutors and defense attorneys may fight over evidence, statements, medical causation and the meaning of Texas’ abortion statute in a nonconsensual setting. As of June 19, no public report reviewed announced a trial date. Demeter remains out on bond while the indictment proceeds.
Author note: Last updated June 19, 2026.