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She Was Accused of Murder After Losing Her Pregnancy. SC Woman Now Tells Her Story.

She Was Accused of Murder After Losing Her Pregnancy. SC Woman Now Tells Her Story.

Amari Marsh of Orangeburg, South Carolina, was charged with murder/homicide by child abuse three months after losing her pregnancy in 2023. A grand jury cleared her of that charge in August. (Sam Wolfe for 国产麻豆精品Health News)

ORANGEBURG, S.C. 鈥 Amari Marsh had just finished her junior year at South Carolina State University in May 2023 when she received a text message from a law enforcement officer.

鈥淪orry it has taken this long for paperwork to come back,鈥 the officer wrote. 鈥淏ut I finally have the final report, and wanted to see if you and your boyfriend could meet me Wednesday afternoon for a follow up?鈥

Marsh understood that the report was related to a pregnancy loss she鈥檇 experienced that March, she said. During her second trimester, Marsh said, she unexpectedly gave birth in the middle of the night while on a toilet in her off-campus apartment. She remembered screaming and panicking and said the bathroom was covered in blood.

鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 breathe,鈥 said Marsh, now 23.

The next day, when Marsh woke up in the hospital, she said, a law enforcement officer asked her questions. Then, a few weeks later, she said, she received a call saying she could collect her daughter鈥檚 ashes.

At that point, she said, she didn鈥檛 know she was being criminally investigated. Yet three months after her loss, Marsh was charged with murder/homicide by child abuse, law enforcement records show. She spent 22 days at the Orangeburg-Calhoun Regional Detention Center, where she was initially held without bond, facing 20 years to life in prison.

This August, 13 months after she was released from jail to house arrest with an ankle monitor, Marsh was cleared by a grand jury. Her case will not proceed to trial.

Her story raises questions about the state of reproductive rights in this country, disparities in health care, and pregnancy criminalization, especially for Black women like Marsh. More than two years after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its Dobbs v. Jackson Women鈥檚 Health Organization decision, which allowed states to outlaw abortion, the climate around these topics remains highly charged.

Marsh鈥檚 case also highlights what’s at stake in November. Sixty-one percent of voters want Congress to pass a federal law restoring a nationwide right to abortion, according to by KFF, the health policy research, polling, and news organization that includes 国产麻豆精品Health News. These issues could shape who wins the White House and controls Congress, and will come to a head for voters in the where ballot initiatives about abortion will be decided.

This case shows how pregnancy loss is being criminalized around the country, said U.S. Rep. , a Democrat and graduate of South Carolina State University whose congressional district includes Orangeburg.

鈥淭his is not a slogan when we talk about this being an 鈥榚lection about the restoration of our freedoms,鈥欌 Clyburn said.

‘I Was Scared鈥

When Marsh took an at-home pregnancy test in November 2022, the positive result scared her. 鈥淚 didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to let my parents down,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 was in a state of shock.”

She didn鈥檛 seek prenatal care, she said, because she kept having her period. She thought the pregnancy test might have been wrong.

An filed by the Orangeburg County Sheriff鈥檚 Office on the day she lost the pregnancy stated that in January 2023 Marsh made an appointment at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Columbia to 鈥渢ake the Plan-C pill which would possibly cause an abortion to occur.鈥 The report doesn鈥檛 specify whether she took 鈥 or even obtained 鈥 the drug.

During an interview at her parents鈥 house, Marsh denied going to Planned Parenthood or taking medicine to induce abortion.

鈥淚鈥檝e never been in trouble. I鈥檝e never been pulled over. I鈥檝e never been arrested,鈥 Marsh said. 鈥淚 never even got written up in school.鈥

A photo of four people seated in a living room.
Zipporah Sumpter, Amari Marsh, Herman Marsh, and Regina Marsh at the Marshes鈥 home.(Sam Wolfe for 国产麻豆精品Health News)

She played clarinet as section leader in the marching band and once performed at Carnegie Hall. In college, she was majoring in biology and planned to become a doctor.

South Carolina state Rep. , a Democrat in Columbia and one of Marsh鈥檚 attorneys, called it a 鈥渞eally tragic鈥 case. 鈥淚t鈥檚 our position that she lost a child through natural causes,鈥 he said.

On Feb. 28, 2023, Marsh said, she experienced abdominal pain that was 鈥渨ay worse鈥 than regular menstrual cramps. She went to the emergency room, investigation records show, but left after several hours without being treated. Back at home, she said, the pain grew worse. She returned to the hospital, this time by ambulance.

Hospital staffers crowded around her, she said, and none of them explained what was happening to her. Bright lights shone in her face. 鈥淚 was scared,鈥 she said.

According to the sheriff鈥檚 department report, hospital staffers told Marsh that she was pregnant and that a fetal heartbeat could be detected. Freaked out and confused, she chose to leave the hospital a second time, she said, and her pain had subsided.

In the middle of the night, she said, the pain started again. She woke up, she recalled, feeling an intense urge to use the bathroom. 鈥淎nd when I did, the child came,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 screamed because I was scared, because I didn鈥檛 know what was going on.鈥

Her boyfriend at the time called 911. The emergency dispatcher 鈥渒ept telling me to take the baby out鈥 of the toilet, she recalled. 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 because I couldn鈥檛 even keep myself together.鈥

First medical responders detected signs of life and tried to perform lifesaving measures as they headed to Regional Medical Center in Orangeburg, the incident report said. But at the hospital, Marsh learned that her infant, a girl, had not survived.

鈥淚 kept asking to see the baby,鈥 she said. 鈥淭丑别y wouldn’t let me.鈥

The following day, a sheriff鈥檚 deputy told Marsh in her hospital room that the incident was under investigation but said that Marsh 鈥渨as currently not in any trouble,鈥 according to the report. Marsh responded that 鈥渟he did not feel as though she did anything wrong.鈥

More than 10 weeks later, nothing about the text messages she received from an officer in mid-May implied that the follow-up meeting about the final report was urgent.

鈥淥h it doesn鈥檛 have to be Wednesday, it can be next week or another week,鈥 the officer wrote in an exchange that Marsh shared with 国产麻豆精品Health News. 鈥淚 just have to meet with y鈥檃ll in person before I can close the case out. I am so sorry鈥

鈥淣o problem I understand,鈥 Marsh wrote back.

She didn鈥檛 tell her parents or consider hiring a lawyer. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 think I needed one,鈥 she said.

Marsh arranged to meet the officer on June 2, 2023. During that meeting, she was arrested. Her boyfriend was not charged.

Her father, Herman Marsh, the band director at a local public school in Orangeburg, thought it was a bad joke until reality set in. 鈥淚 told my wife, I said, 鈥榃e need to get an attorney now.鈥欌

A photo of an older man sitting and looking contemplative.
Herman Marsh says his daughter Amari has needed a lot of time to process her grief after experiencing a pregnancy loss in 2023. 鈥淢y job as her father is to be there for her,鈥 he says. (Sam Wolfe for 国产麻豆精品Health News)
A photo of an older woman sitting and looking contemplative.
After Regina Marsh learned that her daughter Amari had lost a pregnancy in 2023, she shared with her that she had miscarried many years ago. Regina was about three months pregnant with twins when she lost the babies. (Sam Wolfe for 国产麻豆精品Health News)
A photo of a husband and wife seated next to each other with serious expressions on their faces.
While the Marshes鈥 daughter Amari was cleared of charges in August, the family is still processing the ordeal.(Sam Wolfe for 国产麻豆精品Health News)

Pregnancy Criminalization

When Marsh lost her pregnancy on March 1, 2023, women in South Carolina could still obtain an abortion until , or the gestational age of 22 weeks.

Later that spring, South Carolina鈥檚 Republican-controlled legislature that prohibits providers from performing abortions after fetal cardiac activity can be detected, with some exceptions made for cases of rape, incest, or when the mother鈥檚 life is in jeopardy. That law does not allow criminal penalties for women who seek or obtain abortions.

Solicitor David Pascoe, a Democrat elected to South Carolina鈥檚 1st Judicial Circuit whose office handled Marsh鈥檚 prosecution, said the issues of abortion and reproductive rights weren鈥檛 relevant to this case.

鈥淚t had nothing to do with that,鈥 he told 国产麻豆精品Health News.

The arrest warrant alleges that not moving the infant from the toilet at the urging of the dispatcher was ultimately 鈥渁 proximate cause of her daughter鈥檚 death.鈥 The warrant also cites as the cause of death 鈥渞espiratory complications鈥 due to a premature delivery stemming from a maternal chlamydia infection. Marsh said she was unaware of the infection until after the pregnancy loss.

Pascoe said the question raised by investigators was whether Marsh failed to render aid to the infant before emergency responders arrived at the apartment, he said. Ultimately, the grand jury decided there wasn’t probable cause to proceed with a criminal trial, he said. 鈥淚 respect the grand jury鈥檚 opinion.”

Marsh鈥檚 case is a 鈥減rime example of how pregnancy loss can become a criminal investigation very quickly,鈥 said Dana Sussman, senior vice president of , a nonprofit that tracks such cases. While similar cases predate the Supreme Court鈥檚 Dobbs decision, she said, they seem to be increasing.

鈥淭丑别 Dobbs decision unleashed and empowered prosecutors to look at pregnant people as a suspect class and at pregnancy loss as a suspicious event,” she said.

Local and national anti-abortion groups seized on Marsh鈥檚 story when her name and mug shot were published online by of Orangeburg. Holly Gatling, executive director of , about Marsh titled, in part, 鈥淥rangeburg Newborn Dies in Toilet鈥 that was published by National Right to Life. Gatling and National Right to Life did not respond to interview requests.

Marsh said she made the mistake of googling herself when she was released from jail.

鈥淚t was heartbreaking to see all those things,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 cried so many times.鈥

When Marsh was arrested last year, her name and mug shot were published and shared by anti-abortion groups. 鈥淚鈥檓 not how they depict me to be,鈥 she says. 鈥淏efore all of this, I was just a college student trying to start my career.鈥(Sam Wolfe for 国产麻豆精品Health News)

Some physicians are also afraid of being painted as criminals. The nonprofit Physicians for Human Rights on Sept. 17 about Florida鈥檚 six-week abortion ban that included input from two dozen doctors, many of whom expressed fear about the criminal penalties imposed by the law.

鈥淭丑别 health care systems are afraid,鈥 said , medical director for the nonprofit. 鈥淭丑别re鈥檚 all these gray areas. So everyone is just trying to be extra careful. Unfortunately, as a result, patients are suffering.鈥

Chelsea Daniels, a family medicine doctor who works for Planned Parenthood in Miami and performs abortions, said that in early September she saw a patient who had a miscarriage during the first trimester of her pregnancy. The patient had been to four hospitals and brought in the ultrasound scans performed at each facility.

鈥淣o one would touch her,鈥 Daniels said. 鈥淓ach ultrasound scan she brought in represents, on the other side, a really terrified doctor who is doing their best to interpret the really murky legal language around abortion care and miscarriage management, which are the same things, essentially.鈥

Florida is one of the 10 states with a ballot measure related to abortion in November, although it is the only Southern state with one. Others are Montana, Missouri, and Maryland.

‘I Found My Strength鈥

Zipporah Sumpter, one of Marsh鈥檚 lawyers, said the law enforcement system treated her client as a criminal instead of a grieving mother. 鈥淭his is not a criminal matter,鈥 Sumpter said.

It was not just the fraught climate around pregnancy that caused Marsh to suffer; 鈥渞ace definitely played a factor,鈥 said Sumpter, who does not believe Marsh received compassionate care when she went to the hospital the first or second time.

A photo of a Black woman standing with her arms crossed outside. She is Amari Marsh's lawyer.
Zipporah Sumpter, Marsh鈥檚 attorney, says law enforcement treated her client as a criminal instead of a grieving mother.(Sam Wolfe for 国产麻豆精品Health News)

The management of Regional Medical Center, where Marsh was treated, changed shortly after her hospitalization. The hospital is now managed by the Medical University of South Carolina, and its spokesperson declined to comment on Marsh鈥檚 case.

Historically, birth outcomes for Black women in Orangeburg County, where Marsh lost her pregnancy, have ranked among the worst in South Carolina. From 2020 through 2022, the average mortality rate for Black infants born in Orangeburg County was more than three times as high as the average rate for white infants statewide.

Today, Marsh is still trying to process all that happened. She moved back in with her parents and is seeing a therapist. She is taking classes at a local community college and hopes to reenroll at South Carolina State University to earn a four-year degree. She still wants to become a doctor. She keeps her daughter鈥檚 ashes on a bookshelf in her bedroom.

鈥淭hrough all of this, I found my strength. I found my voice. I want to help other young women that are in my position now and will be in the future,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 always had faith that God was going to be on my side, but I didn鈥檛 know how it was going to go with the justice system we have today.鈥

A photo of Zipporah Sumpter with her arms around Amari Marsh's shoulders. Both are looking at the camera. They are standing by a structure with plaques behind them that read, "Justice" and "Community."
Marsh with her attorney, Zipporah Sumpter, outside the Orangeburg County Courthouse in South Carolina.(Sam Wolfe for 国产麻豆精品Health News)

国产麻豆精品Health News Florida correspondent Daniel Chang contributed to this article.