Tyler Tessier (right) will not be charged in the murder of his unborn child. He was charged in the death of his girlfriend, Laura Wallen (left) after her body was discovered buried in a shallow grave in Damascus, Md. (Montgomery County Police Department)
A Maryland man, charged in the murder of his pregnant girlfriend, will reportedly not be charged in the death of their unborn child.
After a preliminary court hearing Friday, Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy said Tyler Tessier would not be charged in the death of the fetus due to a Maryland law, which mandates that the child must have been able to sustain life on his or her own in order to file a charge in its death, Fox 5 reported.
“Based on medical testimony, the child was not viable, independent of Miss Wallen,” McCarthy said. “Based on those findings and as a matter of law in Maryland, the defendant is not chargeable with a second count of murder, related to the child.”
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Wallen, 31, a high school teacher, was missing for more than a week before her remains were found on Sept. 13, buried in a shallow grave near Damascus. According to an autopsy report, she died after being shot in the back of her head. It also showed that she was 14 weeks pregnant with Tessier’s child, Fox 5 reported.
Tessier was arrested shortly after her body was discovered. He was indicted Thursday on one count of murder.
Tessier admitted to police that he was engaged to another woman while he was dating Wallen. Police suspect a possible motive for the murder was the love triangle he’d reportedly created.
If Tessier is convicted in the murder, he could face life in prison without the possibility of parole, Fox 5 reported. The judge could also reportedly consider the death of the fetus during sentencing.
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