WOMAN CHARGED WITH KILLING FETUS BY COCAINE

FLORENCE - Prosecutors say a 31-year-old Lake City woman has been charged
with homicide by child abuse after tests showed her stillborn infant had
cocaine in its system.

Prosecutor Ed Clements III provided The (Florence) Morning News with few
details about the arrest of Brenda Elmore Black.

It is not clear when Black's baby was stillborn, how far along the fetus
was or where Black gave birth.

Clements did not immediately return a phone call from The Associated Press.

Clements did tell the newspaper this is the first case of this type his
office has handled.

South Carolina is one of a few states in the union that allows prosecutors
to pursue homicide charges against women they think killed their viable
fetuses by taking cocaine.

In January 2003, the state Supreme Court upheld the May 2001 conviction and
12-year prison sentence of Conway resident Regina McKnight.

McKnight had been found guilty by a jury on a charge of homicide by child
abuse in connection with her stillborn daughter.

The Supreme Court made such prosecutions possible in 1996 when it ruled
that a viable fetus is considered a child and that a woman can be charged
if she ingests drugs after her fetus becomes viable.