Fort Lauderdale man arrested for killing unborn baby after beating pregnant woman with baseball bat
POMPANO BEACH — A Fort Lauderdale man was arrested last month for killing an unborn baby after beating a pregnant woman with a baseball bat.
On Friday, the Broward Sheriff's Office stated that homicide detectives had arrested 34-year-old Emmanuel Prevaly on the charge of killing an unborn child by injury to the mother.
According to detectives, BSO received a report about a masked man beating a pregnant woman with a baseball bat around the 1200 block of South Dixie Highway West in Pompano Beach on February 23 around 12:41 a.m. Witnesses said they heard screams and ran to help the victim, where at that point, the attacker had fled. One of the witnesses caught up with the attacker -- later identified as Prevaly — and restrained him until BSO Pompano Beach deputies arrived.
Following the attack, Pompano Beach Fire Rescue transported the victim, who was about 22 weeks pregnant, to Broward Health Medical Center for medical treatment. According to BSO, doctors were unable to detect the unborn child's heartbeat while treating the mother and pronounced the baby dead.
After further investigation, it was revealed that the victim was walking to her apartment after retrieving an item from her car when Prevaly walked up to her and began attacking her repeatedly in the stomach. When she tried to use her cell phone to call for help, it fell to the ground and Prevaly took it.
According to BSO, Prevaly had known the victim and was arrested on the day of the attack on attempted murder charges, along with depriving a victim of calling 911. He was then transported to the Broward County Jail and has remained in custody since, and remains held without bond.
BSO's Homicide Unit worked with the Broward State Attorney's Office and the Broward County Medical Examiner on this investigation, where the ME's Office determined that the unborn child died from "multiple blunt force injuries," which led to Prevaly also being charged with killing an unborn child.
