A Pennsylvania university student accused of putting bleach in his pregnant girlfriend’s water bottle in an attempt to harm her unborn baby has been charged with attempted murder, authorities said.
Theophilous Washington, 20, of Washington, D.C., a junior at Millersville University, was charged with criminal attempt to commit first-degree murder of an unborn child and reckless endangering, the Associated Press reported.
“The charges are twisted and the intended result nothing short of horrifying,” District Attorney Craig Stedman said in a statement Friday.
The two were at Washington’s place Thursday night into Friday morning. As the woman was about to leave, Washington suggested she take some water from the refrigerator, the district attorney’s office said.
She did as he suggested, but she felt a burning sensation in her throat once she got back to her dorm room. She vomited, then called 911.
Prosecutors say police interviewed Washington, and he allegedly told them he put bleach in a water bottle.
“Washington, the father of the child, admitted to putting bleach in the water bottle,” prosecutors said. “He had stated previously that he did not want the female to have the child.”
A doctor examined the woman and concluded that both she and the unborn baby appeared to be unharmed, according to the district attorney’s office.
Washington is being held on $1 million bail before his preliminary hearing on November 4.