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Charges: St. Paul Man Punched Girlfriend To Cause Miscarriage

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – An 18-year-old St. Paul man is facing charges of attempted murder and battery as he's accused of punching his pregnant girlfriend at a Wisconsin hotel with the intent of causing a miscarriage.

Jessy Jordan Holtzkamp was charged with one count of attempted first-degree intentional homicide of an unborn child, aggravated battery of an unborn child and misdemeanor battery in connection with the July 10 incident.

According to the charges, Prescott, Wis., Police were called at about 8:10 p.m. to the River Heights Motel on a report of a woman possibly having a miscarriage. When authorities arrived, the woman was laying in fetal position in a lot of pain in her stomach. A man intervened, telling police he was Holtzkamp and they told him to leave the room.

The complaint states a third witness at the scene took Holtzkamp out of the room, then stopped to talk with police. The witness told police the female victim told her she was pregnant and that Holtzkamp punched her several times in the stomach in an attempt to cause a miscarriage.

The female victim told police she was about 13 weeks pregnant and that Holtzkamp, the father of the unborn child, punched her several times. An officer at the scene arrested him before he could flee the scene, according to the complaint.

The female victim wouldn't tell police, however, if he punched her with a closed fist. She also would not sign a document that would let police talk to her doctors about the extent of her injuries, the complaint states.

Another witness told police she brought the female victim to court that day. They returned to the motel with the other witness and it was later discovered that Holkamp had beaten up the victim on several occasions in an attempt to cause a miscarriage. Holtzkamp did not want the woman to have the baby, the complaint states.

According to the complaint, Holtzkamp and the woman were lying in bed after being in court that day and he could feel the baby. He told her he didn't like that feeling, she became upset and an argument ensued. He said he didn't want a child and would be "too young, scared and would be a baby with a baby." He said the pregnancy made him upset and described how his dreams would be ruined and would never have the type of child he wanted because the woman had done meth during the pregnancy.

He said he got a sense of hatred towards the woman because the baby could come out "retarded," according to the complaint. He told police that he never punched the woman, but "poked" the woman's stomach on several occasions.

The victim was transported to Hastings, Minn., hospital for her injuries.

Holtzkamp is in the Pierce County Jail. If convicted, he faces up to 67 years in prison and at least $20,000 in fines.

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