Pregnant Woman Allegedly Killed 3-Year-Old, Teen Daughters, Pleads Not Guilty

A British woman, who was accused of murdering her two daughters, pleaded not guilty Monday during her court hearing.

Louise Porton, 23, who lives in Rugby, Warwickshire, was charged with murdering her daughters, Scarlett Vaughan, 16, and three-year-old Lexi Draper. The victims died within weeks of each other.

Paramedics responded to Porton’s home in the early hours of Jan. 15, 2018 and found Draper unconscious. She died shortly after being rushed to the hospital. Two weeks later, emergency services were again called to Porton’s home after Vaughan was reported sick. In a similar manner she, too, died on Feb. 1, after being taken to the hospital, Mail Online reported.

The court heard that Porton, who worked as a model, was three months pregnant with her third child, which factored into the arguments made by both the prosecutor as well as accused’s lawyers.

“The date of confinement is expected to be Sept. 7. It is an intensely private matter. Some extremely difficult decisions lie ahead in the next week or two. It is a very unusual case and we are confident it can be dealt with in four weeks. We are looking at bringing in our own experts,” the defending side said.

“Miss Porton is currently pregnant and the due date is September, it is likely that she would need breaks, it may also be the case that we'll be unable to set long hours,” the prosecutor told the court.

During the 40-minute-long hearing, Porton reportedly showed little emotion as she denied being guilty of two counts of murder. The presiding judge ordered she be remanded in custody till her trial date in June.

“It would be sensible to have a hearing in May so any problems can be sorted. The trial should provisionally start on June 24 which will give us five-and-a-half weeks which I feel is the appropriate time. I will handle the case until it's taken over by a high court judge,” he said.

In late February, a California woman was charged with child abuse causing death and attempted murder after she allegedly killed her baby girl and threw her son from a second-floor apartment. When authorities arrived at the scene, Tierra Ortega also jumped from the balcony, sustaining facial injuries. While her daughter, Ezlynn, was transported with head trauma to Loma Linda University Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead, her infant son, Jericho, suffered a broken foot.