Brittany Watts, 34, will NOT be charged for ‘mishandling’ the remains of her fetus leaving the body wedged in a toilet bowl after she had a miscarried
A grand jury has declined to indict an Ohio woman who was criminally charged after she tried to flush a fetus down the toilet while she was having a miscarriage.
Brittany Watts, 34, was just over 22 weeks pregnant when she suffered a miscarriage in the bathroom of her Warren home. It was her first pregnancy.
She had previously been admitted to Mercy Health St. Joseph Warren Hospital twice when she developed painful cramps and bleeding. But both times she left after waiting hours to see a doctor.
In September, police found the fetus in the toilet after Watts allegedly tried to flush it. She was later arrested and charged with gross abuse of a corpse, a fifth-degree felony.
The Trumbull County Prosecutor’s Office announced Thursday that grand jurors declined to bring charges against Watts.
A grand jury has declined to indict Ohio woman Brittany Watts (pictured), who was criminally charged after attempting to flush a fetus down the toilet when she suffered a miscarriage.
Watts, 34, was just over 22 weeks pregnant when she suffered a miscarriage in the bathroom of her Warren home in September. It was her first pregnancy
She had previously been admitted to Mercy Health St. Joseph Warren Hospital (pictured) twice when she experienced painful cramps and bleeding. She left both times
The announcement that Watts would not be charged came hours before 150 of her supporters gathered in Warren’s Courthouse Square for a “We Stand With Brittany!” collection.
She expressed her sincere appreciation for the community’s support.
“I want to thank my community: Warren. Warren, OH. I was born here. I grew up here. I graduated high school here and I stay here because I have to keep fighting,” Watts said.
Her attorney said an outpouring of emails, letters, phone calls, donations and prayers from the public helped her client pass the ordeal of being charged with a misdemeanor offense punishable by up to a year in prison.
“As shocking or disturbing as it may sound when presented in a public forum, it is simply the devastating reality of miscarriage,” attorney Traci Timko said in a statement.
“While the past three months have been painful, we are incredibly grateful and relieved that justice was delivered today by the grand jury.”
Watts tried to flush the toilet after the miscarriage, but it overflowed.
She used a bucket to clean up and because she didn’t want anyone to know about the pregnancy, she went to the salon for a hair appointment.
But the hairdresser became concerned and called her mother. Watts was taken to the hospital, where a nurse called 911.
According to transcripts, the nurse told a dispatcher that Watts had been sent to the hospital earlier that week with a hemorrhage and had left “against medical advice.”
“She came back on Wednesday still bleeding and said, ‘Maybe I need to be seen.’ So we took her back in and we talked to her through everything, and then she disappeared,” the nurse said.
The Trumbull County Prosecutor’s Office announced Thursday that grand jurors declined to bring charges against Watts. Pictured: The Trumbull County Courthouse
The announcement that Watts would not be charged came hours before 150 of her supporters gathered in Warren’s Courthouse Square for a “We Stand With Brittany!” collection
She said Watts admitted to placing the fetus in a bucket and placing it outside her home, claiming Watts told her she did not want the baby.
However, Warren police found the fetus still in the toilet. Watts was later arrested and charged.
According to attorney Timko, who previously served as the city’s assistant legal director, Watts was told the fetus was not viable.
“It’s a lot of pain, it’s a lot of emotion, and she was terrified,” Timko said of her client. “There were so many things she was trying to deal with all at once.”
Watts said she felt “anger, scared, betrayed, confused and nervous” when she was arrested.
“Every negative emotion you could evoke in the English language, I felt,” she continued.
A preliminary hearing was held in Warren Municipal Court on November 2.
When Detective Nick Carney responded, he said Watts “said she felt the baby come out and there was a big splash.”
No injuries were found on the fetus, according to a forensic pathologist, who testified that the fetus died before passing through the birth canal.
The judge found probable cause to send the case to the Trumbull County Grand Jury for review.
Attorney Dennis Watkins previously released a memo saying his office is “obligated” to follow Ohio law.
State law includes provisions for the crime of abuse of a corpse and the crime of gross abuse of a corpse.
Watts expressed her sincere gratitude for the community’s support in a speech at the event
During the 911 call, the nurse told dispatchers that Watts had been admitted to the hospital earlier that week and had left “against medical advice.”
Friends of Watts have set up a GoFundMe to help cover her legal costs, writing: “We must help Brittany as she endures and fights this injustice, and we must ensure that no woman will be victimized in this way again. ‘
The campaign raised more than $200,000, more than double its goal.
Ohio Senate Bill 27 makes it a first-degree felony to dispose of fetal remains other than through cremation or burial.
But this law generally applies to health care facilities such as abortion clinics and not to private homes.
The bill proved controversial, and in February 2022 a federal judge blocked enforcement of the law after finding it violated clinics’ and patients’ rights to due process and equal protection.
A year earlier, the law was blocked because the Ohio Department of Health failed to provide the necessary documents.