ALL I HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THIS IS NO MAN IS WORTH IT:
Pregnant woman stabbed to death, infant survives
Thursday, January 25, 2007
ANNA VELASCO and WAYNE MARTIN
News staff writers
A love triangle turned fatal after a pregnant woman was stabbed in the chest by her rival late Tuesday night, according to the Jefferson County sheriff's office.
Doctors could not save Saudia Causwell, 20, but they did save her baby, delivering him at 30 weeks' gestation by Caesarean section at UAB Hospital, said Randy Christian, spokesman for the sheriff's department. The baby is in the hospital's neonatal intensive-care unit but is expected to survive, he said.
UAB Hospital officials would not talk about the case or confirm the baby's presence.
Causwell was stabbed at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday in the parking lot of an apartment complex in eastern Jefferson County, at the 5400 block of Livingston Oak Circle, Christian said. She died at UAB Hospital at 2:19 a.m. Wednesday, he said.
Police booked Joi Gallagher, 24, in the Jefferson County jail on murder charges before 6 a.m. Wednesday, and she was out of jail at midday after posting a $30,000 bond.
Christian gave the following account of the deadly encounter between the two women:
Causwell and Gallagher had a history of harassing each other, fighting over Antonio James, father to Gallagher's three children and Causwell's unborn baby. He was not married to either woman and lived separately from both.
The man had quit taking Causwell's calls. On Tuesday, Causwell had a friend drive her to Gallagher's apartment, where James was. Causwell had another person call James and ask him to go outside. James did go outside, but so did Gallagher. The 290-pound woman took a butcher knife with her, Christian said. The two women argued and Causwell, 150 pounds in her third trimester of pregnancy, was stabbed.
When Causwell said she'd been hurt, James said she needed to go to the hospital. Causwell got back in the car and told her friend she was stabbed. The friend drove her to Medical Center East, about a 10-minute drive.
Doctors at Medical Center East tried to stabilize Causwell and had her airlifted to UAB Hospital.
Causwell was not stabbed in the heart, but arteries in the chest had been cut.
"It was an emotionally charged situation that sadly and unnecessarily escalated into murder," Christian said. "The saddest thing is to have a newborn little boy that will never know his mother."
Gallagher's children are in the care of relatives, Christian said.
Efforts to reach Causwell's mother Wednesday were unsuccessful.
Effects over long term:
While the newborn is expected to survive, it is too early to say whether he will suffer long-term problems from the traumatic premature birth.
Almost all babies born at 30 weeks' gestation under controlled, stable circumstances survive, said Dr. Vick DiCarlo, a neonatologist at Brookwood Medical Center who is not connected to this case but is an expert in treating premature babies.
Most babies born 10 weeks shy of the standard 40-week gestation period will need a ventilator to breathe for a few days but have a good long-term outlook, DiCarlo said.
DiCarlo could not be as optimistic about Causwell's baby. The mother's blood loss and blood pressure drop could have severely deprived the fetus of oxygen. The lack of oxygen can cause organ damage and potentially long-term neurological problems.
"All the organs are at risk," DiCarlo said. "Kidneys and the liver can recover. The brain may or may not recover."
Joe Acker, executive director of Birmingham Regional Emergency Medical Services System, said he did not know the particulars of the case but was sorry nobody called 911 for help. An ambulance would have taken Causwell directly to UAB, the only hospital for adults in the area prepared for such a life-threatening trauma, he said.
"Time could have been saved, and it may have made the difference," Acker said.
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