A Gary man was sentenced Wednesday to 24 years in prison after admitting he confined and beat his then-pregnant girlfriend, killing her 4-month-old fetus.
Cortez Morehead pleaded guilty in documents filed March 30 to feticide and criminal confinement, both Level 3 felonies.
The woman wrote in a letter read in court she just had a gender reveal party several days before the incident. She was expecting a boy.
Defense lawyer Lonnie Randolph II said it was “heartbreaking” and “should not have happened.”
He alleged the argument started because Morehead was on the phone with “someone else” and at one point, the woman started punching and kicking him.
He said that didn’t excuse his client’s actions.
“No man should ever put his hands on a woman,” Randolph said.
Deputy Prosecutor Infinity Westberg countered Morehead didn’t tell the police the woman allegedly attacked him. During the case, Morehead contacted her more than 100 times from jail, at one point hoping she wouldn’t “show up for a deposition,” Westberg said.
“He killed her baby,” Westberg said.
It wasn’t my “intention to fight her,” Morehead said in court. “She was fighting with me.”
Since his unborn son’s death, he “cried every night” and “has to live with this mistake for the rest of my life.”
Gary Police responded July 29, 2025 to the 1000 block of Van Buren Street.
The woman said her four kids were home when she and Morehead got into an argument. She went to her bedroom. When she refused to leave, he threatened to punch her in the face, charges show.
After she called the police, he drove off in her vehicle. When officers arrived, they told her to lock her door as they looked for Moreheadm records state.
The woman told officers that at some point, Morehead came back and brutally attacked her, including punching her in the face and stomach and dragging her back inside. She ran to a neighbor for help, court records state.