A father has been accused of raping his 17 year old daughter and attempting to hide his crime by taking her to Mexico for an abortion, according to Texas officials.
However, the alleged scheme by Jerry Lee Martinez, 45, unravelled when the teenager suffered a miscarriage in a Walmart bathroom, investigators believe.
Martinez is facing a charge of sexual assault of a child, as per jail records, and was previously charged with abandoning or endangering a child with criminal negligence, tampering with a witness, and tampering with physical evidence.
According to an arrest affidavit obtained by KIII, the local ABC affiliate, the girl informed detectives that Martinez began “touching her inappropriately” when she turned 15.
Upon discovering her pregnancy, Martinez allegedly punched her in the stomach before driving her to Mexico last Monday to terminate the pregnancy, police claim, reports the Mirror US.
The teenager reportedly had a miscarriage in a Walmart bathroom in Kingsville, with the baby’s body found in the rubbish.
Walmart employees discovered the baby and alerted the police just before 10:30 p.m. on Monday.
Despite attempts by employees to save the baby, it was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Police later located Martinez and the teenager, conducted a traffic stop, arrested the father, and took the teenager to “a secure location.”
Martinez is currently being held at the Kleberg County Jail on a $600,000 bond.
Walmart staff alerted the authorities at 10:30 p.m. on Monday after they found an infant in a rubbish bin in the lavatory.
“We extend our deepest condolences to all affected by this tragic event,” stated the police.
The baby was sadly declared dead at Christus Spohn Hospital–Kleberg shortly afterwards.