Tarrant Co. inmate charged in fetus death with murder indicted instead in woman’s assault
A grand jury in Tarrant County has indicted on assault of a public servant a woman who authorities allege punched a Fort Worth hospital employee who was pregnant.
Cheri Akil, 39, was in April charged in the case with murder, an offense that carries a far more significant sentence range than does the crime on which she was indicted. The Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office has alleged that the punch caused the death of the patient care technician’s fetus. Akil was in Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office custody at John Peter Smith Hospital at the time that authorities have alleged the assault occurred.
The indictment was handed up on July 11. A judge on Wednesday reduced bond in the case to $50,000 from $100,000. It is not clear what indictment recommendation the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office made to the grand jury.
Akil is also being held on a methamphetamine possession case filed in Taylor County.
In an interview with a reporter, defense attorney Kathy Lowthorp said she was exploring her client’s state of mind at the time the district attorney’s office alleges the offense occurred. Akil was in the hospital’s intensive care unit and under treatment for a medical condition that may have affected her ability to have the intent required of an assault crime, Lowthorp said.
Akil did not know the technician was pregnant, Lowthorp said. Because she was potentially suicidal, Akil was restrained at the time of the assault, according to the sheriff’s office.
Akil punched the technician in the stomach as the technician stood next to a hospital bed on April 12, the sheriff’s office has alleged.
The technician was taken to the trauma unit, where an ultrasound showed the fetus no longer had a pulse, according to the sheriff’s office.
This story was originally published July 27, 2023 at 5:19 PM.
