Police: Man beats pregnant wife, throws her down stairs, abandons her on side of road

A Jackson man threw his pregnant wife down a flight of stairs, breaking one of her vertebrae, deputies said.

The Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office on Sunday charged Jason B. Hecht, 29, with felony first-degree domestic assault.

According to a probable-cause statement filed in the case by Cape Girardeau County sheriff’s deputy F. Finnell, Hecht’s wife was taken Friday morning to Saint Francis Medical Center with injuries.

In addition to being 20 weeks pregnant, the victim was, “shaking, crying and appeared to be in severe pain,” with bite marks on her left arm and bruising around her throat, right eye, right arm, shoulder blades, legs and right side, Finnell wrote.

The victim said she had “no idea” why Hecht pulled her out of bed at his parents’ residence on Route CC in Shawneetown and began beating her about 5:30 a.m. Friday, Finnell wrote.

The victim said Hecht choked, bit and hit her before throwing her down a flight of stairs and kicking her in her right side, according to the statement.

The victim said she feared Hecht would kill her when he put her in a black Ford Fusion and drove her to Fruitland, but he instead abandoned her on the side of the road there, Finnell wrote.

The victim caught a ride to Cape Girardeau, where her grandmother works, and was taken by ambulance to Saint Francis, Finnell wrote.

Hospital staff told Finnell one of the victim’s lumbar vertebrae had been fractured, according to the statement.

Capt. David James, a public-information officer with the sheriff’s office, said Monday police had not received information that would indicate the victim’s unborn child had suffered an injury.

At the time of his arrest, Hecht was absconding on a warrant for parole violation, according to the statement.

Hecht remained in custody Monday afternoon on a $50,000 bond with the special condition he have no contact with the victim.

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3627