Woman gave birth early after kick in stomach by off-duty Miami police officer
The woman was walking with her boyfriend when the altercation occurred, and she's still unclear as to why it happened in the first place, or why the reaction was so severe.
8 months pregnant Evoni Murray had been meeting up with her boyfriend, Joseph Predelus, in Miami Beach on Washington Avenue and Espanola Way at 8:30pm on August 25 when a sudden altercation with an off-duty police officer nearly ended in disaster.
Rookie North Miami Beach Police officer Ambar Pacheco, 26, had kicked Murray in the stomach, leading her to go into labor 10 days before her due date of August 4.
Fortunately, after Predelus rushed her to the hospital, she was able to deliver a healthy baby boy, who the couple named Josepg Predelus III.
A Florida woman gave birth early after an off-duty officer allegedly kicked her in the stomach https://t.co/5pg8LzS0Jb pic.twitter.com/G3xcZDIzRi
— Orlando Sentinel (@orlandosentinel) July 28, 2018
Pacecho has been immediately relieved of duty following the incident, during which she was arrested. An internal review of the incident is pending, and the officer, who had been with the department for less than a year, will not be paid in the interim.
She claimed that the reason for the altercation was that Perdelus had kicked her sister, and that she was only retaliating.
Both Murray and Perdelus have denied this.
Evoni Murray was terrified she would lose her baby after the violent attack.https://t.co/CZLPODip1V
— #TheGameBET (@TheGameBET) August 1, 2018
"Why would he kick a female for if she wasn't doing anything?" Murray told ABC News. "He was just trying to restrain the young ladies from doing anything to me or his child."
She has further added that she believes the altercation occurred because Pacecho and her sister thought she and Perdelus were talking about them.
"They basically tried to jump me because they thought I said something," she said.
Woman 8 months pregnant goes into labor after kick in stomach by officer, police say https://t.co/J4EEiUKeNt pic.twitter.com/tR1r3IuLyA
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) July 28, 2018
Murray is just grateful that despite the stressful situation leading to the premature birth of her son, she is just pleased that he is healthy.
“I’m grateful ’cause he’s a blessing,” she said to 7News. “I’m grateful because he’s OK. Anything could have happened. Just looking at him, what if I didn’t have him? Then what? The situation would have been different.”
Murray hopes that an investigation will clear up the cause of the unnecessary action taken by Pacecho, and expressed concern that someone who is supposed to be protecting the community could try and cause grave harm to her child.
