Ossipee, New Hampshire – A New Hampshire man, William Kelly, made an appearance in court on Monday facing charges for the alleged killing of a pregnant woman and her unborn child by inflicting multiple blunt force injuries. This marks the state’s first instance of prosecuting someone for murder in relation to the death of a fetus.
Kelly, 28, stood before Carroll County Superior Court in Ossipee alongside his attorney, Caroline Smith, choosing not to address the judge during the proceedings. Smith indicated that Kelly would be waiving his arraignment and entering a plea of not guilty.
Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Mitchell Weinberg determined that the victim, Christine Falzone, 33, was approximately 35 to 37 weeks pregnant at the time of her tragic death in December. This case falls under a 2017 bill that defines a fetus at 20 weeks of development and beyond as a person for legal purposes, allowing for the criminal prosecution of murder.
According to a spokesperson for the attorney general’s office, Michael Garrity, Kelly’s indictment on two counts of second-degree murder by a Carroll County grand jury on Friday marks the first instance in the state of New Hampshire of charging someone with murder in the death of a fetus. While awaiting forensic test results, the legal team has agreed to schedule a hearing for June and tentatively set a trial date in 2025.
Kelly, who is being detained without bail, has a history of criminal convictions, including a recent assault charge in 2019. Initially arrested on a single second-degree murder charge in December linked to Falzone’s demise, he was found by police at the Ossipee residence where Falzone lived, unresponsive and not breathing. It is unclear at this time whether Kelly was the father of the unborn child.