*Perilous Times
*
Oct 10, 2011

*Milwaukee mother accused of abducting and killing a pregnant woman for
her unborn son*

By Michael Winter, USA TODAY

A Milwaukee mother of three is facing two murder charges for allegedly
abducting and killing a pregnant woman for her unborn son, who had been
scheduled for delivery today, according to news reports.

Annette Morales-Rodriguez, 33, is charged with two counts of
first-degree intentional homicide in the deaths of 23-year-old Maritza
Ramirez-Cruz and her fetus, who would have been her fourth child, the
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. Ramirez-Cruz vanished Thursday
morning after leaving her home to run an errand.

Morales-Rodriquez, who is unmarried, apparently was desperate to have
her fourth child and passed herself off as being pregnant after two
miscarriages, the paper writes. Morales-Rodriquez looked for a pregnant
woman near a social service agency, found Ramirez and offered her a
ride. The two did not know one another, a relative told the Associated
Press.

The Journal Sentinel explains the gruesome details of what happened next:

     They got some medicine for Ramirez, then stopped at Rodriguez's
house to use the bathroom.

     When Ramirez came out of the bathroom, Rodriguez struck her
multiple times with a baseball bat, then strangled her unconscious
before using an Exacto knife to cut her child from her womb, trying, she
told detectives, to duplicate a Caesarean section she'd seen performed
on the Discovery Channel.

Morales-Rodriguez called 911 about noon that day to report that she had
given birth at home and that her baby wasn't breathing. Emergency
workers found the baby dead, took Rodriguez to a hospital and performed
an autopsy on the infant. Friday, police found Ramirez-Cruz's body in
Morales-Rodriguez's basement. Milwaukee police announced the killings
late Saturday.