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Ohio couple indicted on involuntary manslaughter charge for allegedly terminating pregnancy

LICKING COUNTY, Ohio (WCMH) — A man and woman have been indicted on charges they allegedly terminated the woman’s pregnancy by taking medication they ordered from India, after which they allegedly hid the baby’s corpse in a shoebox.

Kalina V.E. Gillum and Braden C. Mull have been indicted on one count each of involuntary manslaughter, child endangering, tampering with evidence, and abuse of a corpse.

The couple appeared via video monitor in Licking County court Monday.

According to Licking County Prosecuting Attorney William Hayes, on Sept. 18, 2019, Gillum took 12 misoprostol tablets she and Mull ordered from India with the intention to “induce labor and terminate Gillum’s pregnancy,” Hayes wrote in a press release.

Gillum was in her third trimester, about 28 or 29 weeks pregnant, at the time, Hayes said.

According to Hayes, on Sept. 19, Gillum gave birth to a male child in the bathroom of the apartment she shared with Mull.

“At no time did either one of them ever call 911 or seek emergency medical treatment for the child,” Hayes wrote.

The following day, Gillum and Mull went to Licking Memorial Hospital, at which point medical staff contacted law enforcement. Law enforcement officers responded to both the hospital and the couple’s apartment.

According to Hayes, officers at the apartment discovered the baby’s body inside a shoebox inside a trash bag.

Officers collected evidence from the home which Hayes says shows both Gillum and Mull jointly planned to purchase the pills and terminate the pregnancy, knowing Gillum was in her third trimester.

A Licking County Grand Jury returned the indictments for both on Feb. 5, 2020. They were both arrested without incident on Feb. 8.

The couple’s next scheduled court appearance is Feb. 18. Both are being held on $150,000 cash bond.

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