A Georgia man has been sentenced to decades in prison after shooting his pregnant girlfriend in the head in an attempt to kill their unborn child. The victim survived, underwent an emergency C-section, and woke up from a coma with no memory of the attack.
Man Sentenced for Shooting Pregnant Girlfriend
Donald Wooten, 27, was sentenced to 60 years in prison last week after being convicted of attempted murder, criminal attempt to commit feticide, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
According to an arrest affidavit obtained by Law&Crime, Wooten told detectives that he “did not want the victim to have the child.” The shooting forced doctors to perform an emergency C-section to save the baby.
Details of the March 2023 Shooting
The attack occurred near a walking trail at Chapel Hill Park in Decatur, Georgia. The DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office said police responded around 7 a.m. to a 911 call reporting an unresponsive pregnant woman.
“EMTs found a visibly pregnant woman lying in the fetal position, awake but not communicating, with a wound to the back of her head,” the DA’s office reported. She was 22 weeks pregnant at the time.
Initially, detectives could not interview the victim due to her incoherent state. Her family, however, suspected Wooten was behind the shooting.
Investigation and Evidence
Wooten initially gave detectives an alibi, claiming he spent the evening with the victim and then returned to his secondary apartment. While receipts and text messages partially supported his story, cellphone location records contradicted his account.
Two months later, police interviewed the victim at the hospital. She recalled being at the park with Wooten but had no memory of being shot.
Authorities also recovered jail calls in which Wooten allegedly asked a relative to wipe his cellphone remotely. Despite this, police extracted data from the device, which revealed arguments between Wooten and the victim about the pregnancy and their future together.
Trial and Conviction
During the trial, the victim testified that she drove with Wooten to the movies and back to their apartment before he suggested walking in Chapel Hill Park. Her last memory was walking with Wooten in the park.
On April 20, a jury found Wooten guilty of all charges, and he was sentenced to 60 years in prison for the attack.
