Bei Bei Shuai was charged with murder and attempted feticide after she ate rat poison in a suicide attempt while pregnant.


INDIANAPOLIS -- An Indiana prosecutor said Friday he may have to drop a murder charge against a woman accused of eating rat poison during a suicide attempt while she was pregnant.

Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry charged Bei Bei Shuai, 36, of Indianapolis with murder and attempted feticide in 2011 when her baby daughter, Angel, died a few days after being born. Prosecutors alleged that the rat poison Shuai ate caused bleeding in Angel's brain, which eventually killed her.

But now, they can't prove it.

A week ago, a Marion County judge said she won't allow a pathologist to tell a jury that the rat poison killed the baby. The process the pathologist used to make that conclusion "is not reliable," the judge ruled, because she didn't eliminate other potential causes of death and didn't provide enough information about how she determined rat poison was the cause.

"With the existing combination of witnesses, without any proof of cause of death," Curry said Friday, "we would not be able to go forward on the murder charge."

But Shuai's attorney, Linda Pence, said Curry should just give up. He has no evidence to show Shuai did anything wrong, she said, and no other woman in Indiana history has faced a prosecution like this.

"They decided to prosecute this woman without a proper investigation, on a novel theory that's being destroyed," Pence said. "He ought to do the right thing and dismiss the whole case."

Pence has argued that, in addition to weak evidence, the case should be thrown out because it's unconstitutional. Suicide isn't a crime, she said, so it's not fair to make it a crime for pregnant women.

Dozens of legal and medical experts have submitted briefs sharing Pence's concerns and warning of the dangers of prosecuting pregnant women.

Shuai's prosecution could prevent pregnant women from getting help if they're depressed, her supporters contend, and it could open the door for pregnant women to be scrutinized for any action that could harm their babies, even everyday activities such as running or drinking a cup of coffee.

The Court of Appeals declined to consider the constitutional issues after it granted Shuai bail based on the evidence, but Pence said she will raise those issues again later.

Even if prosecutors drop the murder charge, they plan to continue pursuing the attempted feticide charge, which Curry said doesn't require them to show that the rat poison killed Angel.

Curry said he'll continue to find ways to make the case work, which could draw out the length and the cost of the case. Curry's office says it does not know how much the case will end up costing taxpayers.

Prosecutors could appeal Marion Superior Court Judge Sheila Carlisle's ruling or find another pathologist who could try to show that the rat poison caused the baby's death, Curry said.

A three-judge appellate panel ruled last February that Shuai should be granted bail, a rarity in murder cases, because Pence raised doubt that the rat poison killed Angel.

Curry said he doesn't think the appellate court's previous decision has any bearing on the question of the reliability of the pathologist's findings.

"They said the defense effectively raised doubt about (the cause of death)," Curry said. "That clearly didn't address the issue of admissibility in and of itself."

Shuai's trial is set for April 22.

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