[FONT=Verdana, Arial]A fetus hit squad http://www.startribune.com/467/story/1158695.html [/FONT][?=Read the shit] 'Heartless' assault ends in death of newborn Two men are charged after a pregnant St. Louis Park woman is punched in the stomach. By Jim Adams, Star Tribune Last update: May 02, 2007 – 11:53 PM Paul A. Petersen, 18, of Hopkins, was charged with second-degree murder and first-degree assault. Dameon D. Gatson, 22, of Hopkins, was charged with second-degree murder and first-degree assault. Carolyn Washburn answered the knock at her apartment door late one morning and saw a teenager, whom she didn't know, in a royal blue sweatshirt with the hood up. He asked for her pregnant girlfriend, Shyloe. "He wouldn't come into the apartment, so she stepped out to see what he wanted and he punched her" in the stomach, said Washburn, 17. Shyloe, 19, collapsed, crying in pain on the floor of the St. Louis Park apartment. "He hit me. Call 911," she told Washburn. The next day, the young woman delivered her daughter, Destiny, weighing less than 2 pounds. Nine days later, after being told her brain-damaged daughter would have cerebral palsy, be mentally disabled, and never be able to use her arms or legs, Shyloe decided to take Destiny off life support, St. Louis Park police said. The baby died a few hours later Tuesday. The two girlfriends couldn't believe it when police told them Shyloe's boyfriend, her child's father, offered a friend $200 to cause a miscarriage. On Wednesday the boyfriend, Dameon D. Gatson, 22, and his friend, Paul A. Petersen, 18, of Hopkins, were each charged with second-degree murder and first-degree assault. "It is a cold, brutal, really heartless crime," said St. Louis Park Chief John Luse. He said the young mother, whom he wouldn't name, was physically OK, but grief-stricken and still trying to comprehend what happened. Washburn would only give the mother's first name. Luse said he had never heard of so young a homicide victim. "That's why it's so heartbreaking," he said. A relative of Petersen called the charges ludicrous and a relative of Gatson said he wasn't a troublemaker. Even the mother, who was six months pregnant when she was assaulted, initially didn't believe that Gatson was involved, said Officer Michael Merwin, the lead investigator, whom the mother invited to be present when Destiny was taken from life support. "She is angry right now. She has gone from 'That's hard to believe,' to 'How could he do this to me?' " Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said the baby's death was directly linked to the assault. "I have never seen anything that sickens me quite like this," he said. "What else is left in crime to disgust you? You assault a pregnant woman, the mother of your child, and you hire somebody to kill the child. This is Idi Amin stuff." According to the charging complaint filed in Hennepin County District Court, this is how the case began April 21: Petersen told police that Gatson offered him $200 to cause the woman to miscarry, and that Gatson told him he feared the woman was cheating on him and he didn't want another baby. The two drove around, drinking and using marijuana. After Petersen punched the woman two or three times at the apartment in the 5600 block of Minnetonka Boulevard, he fled and got into a car with Gatson at a nearby Marathon gas station. Shyloe didn't know Petersen, but identified him in a photo lineup as the attacker. She told police that her boyfriend was in St. Louis for a funeral. That's the story he also told police, but later said it wasn't true. Petersen noted that Gatson gave him $40 after the assault. Luse said Gatson and the mother had been together about seven months. He said Gatson has a young child with another woman and Shyloe has a 2-year-old son. He was in the apartment when his mother was punched, Luse said. Baby Destiny was born April 22 at Hennepin County Medical Center, but she had bleeding on her brain and other health problems. According to Mayo-Clinic.com, a disturbance in blood circulation to the brain before birth is a possible cause of cerebral palsy. Washburn, who is pregnant, said she and Shyloe initially couldn't believe that Gatson was involved because "he is a good guy," she said. "He was very excited for the baby. ... Only a really sick person would do that." She said Gatson will be the uncle of her child. Relatives don't believe it Gatson's cousin, Angelia Gatson of Milwaukee, said she would never expect that behavior from him. She described Gatson as a "well-rounded" kid who was mostly raised by his grandmother and who moved to the Twin Cities from Milwaukee. "He wasn't a troublemaker," she said. "There's no excuse for what he's done if he's guilty." Petersen lived with his older sister, Shanna Petersen, who said the charges against him "are ludicrous." She said he has some problems, including being on probation for stealing a Minneapolis school bus, and having bipolar mood swings and attention deficit hyperactivity. But he and his fiancée just had a baby last month and he was planning on getting a GED this summer, Petersen said. She said she didn't trust Gatson, who got mail at her house, and thinks he set up her brother. "I know my brother," Shanna Petersen said. "My brother don't hit girls. I didn't raise him that way." Petersen and Gatson are in custody with bail set at $750,000. Merwin said the case kept four officers working about 10 days straight and was trying emotionally, especially for those like him with children. "One of the best thank yous I ever had," he said, "was when the victim asked me to be present to support her when they took her baby off life support." Chao Xiong contributed to this report. Jim Adams • 612-673-7658 • jadams@startribune.com [/?]
