Pregnant woman’s suspected killer is first charged under NH fetal homicide law

A New Hampshire man appeared in court Monday on charges of killing a pregnant woman and her unborn child with multiple blunt force injuries, the first time the state has filed a murder charge for the death of a fetus.

William Kelly, 28, appeared in Carroll County Superior Court in Ossipee with his attorney, Caroline Smith. He did not address the judge. Smith said Kelly plans to waive his guilty plea and file papers pleading not guilty. An email seeking comment was left with Smith.

Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Mitchell Weinberg determined that Christine Falzone, 33, was approximately 35 to 37 weeks pregnant at the time of her death in December.

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In 2017, Congress passed a bill that defines a fetus after 20 weeks of development as a human for purposes of criminal prosecution for murder. Republican Gov. Chris Sununu signed the bill. It came into effect in 2018.

Michael Garrity, a spokesman for the attorney general’s office, said this is the first time the state has filed a murder charge for the death of a fetus.

Kelly was indicted Friday by a Carroll County grand jury on two counts of second-degree murder. According to the indictment, he recklessly caused the death of Falzone and her unborn child.

Lawyers said they were awaiting the results of forensic tests. They agreed to hold a hearing in June and schedule a trial date for 2025.

Kelly is being held without bail and has several prior convictions. The most recent was an assault charge in 2019, police said.

Kelly was originally arrested in December on a single count of second-degree murder in connection with Falzone’s death.

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Police said they found Falzone unconscious and not breathing at Ossipee’s home, where he lived with Kelly. It was not immediately known whether Kelly was the father of the unborn child.