Ohio Woman Who Miscarried in a Toilet at 22 Weeks Is Being Charged With Abusing a Corpse

Mar. 15, 2025

Brittany Watts.Photo:WKBN27/YouTube

WKBN27/YouTube

This article contains details that may be disturbing for some readers.

An Ohio woman who suffered a miscarriage at home has been charged with felony abuse of a corpse.

Brittany Watts, 33, of Warren, Ohio, miscarried at 22 weeks while using the bathroom at her home. Forensic pathologist Dr. George Sterbenz testified at the November 2 trial that there was no injury to the fetus, which had died in the womb,according to a report from WKBN.

“This fetus was going to be non-viable,” Sterbenz testified. “And it was going to be non-viable because she had premature rupture of membranes. Her water had broken early.”

Premature Rupture of Membranes — sometimes abbreviated as PROM — is when “the amniotic sac breaks before 37 weeks of pregnancy,” theCleveland Clinicsays. “The fetus can survive if your water breaks too soon. It depends on factors like the age of the pregnancy and how much amniotic fluid is left.”

But as Sternenz testified, “The fetus was too young to be delivered.”

After miscarrying, Watts attempted to plunge her toilet and then told police that she left the contents of the toilet outside the garbage, according to the coroner’s office, perCNN— an act which led to the “felony abuse of a corpse” charge.

“Ms. Watts suffered a tragic and dangerous miscarriage that jeopardized her own life. Rather than focusing on healing physically and emotionally, she was arrested and charged with a felony,” her attorney Traci Timko,told CNNin an email.

Watts’ case is pending before a Trumbull County Grand Jury.

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source: people.com