Racine woman arrested in Arkansas charged with attacking pregnant woman with bat

Hempstead County Sheriff\'s Office/Sahar Assad

RACINE, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A Racine woman arrested in Arkansas is now charged in the brutal attack of a pregnant woman earlier this month. 

Thirty-eight-year-old Marielle Barrios is charged with armed robbery, substantial battery and aggravated battery to an unborn child.

The victim, Gheonna Lacy, says she was beaten with a bat as she was leaving the group home where she works on Jan. 15.

Surveillance video from the area shows two people wearing hoods walk through the backyard of a residence just before yelling is heard.

According to the criminal complaint, Barrios and the victim are known to each other. The victim told officers Barrios was wearing a face mask that came down at one point during the attack, revealing her identity. She told investigators she heard Barrios say, "Beat the baby out," and "Kill that baby," while passing an aluminum bat back and forth with another suspect wearing a hoodie and face mask who Lacy said appeared to be a man.

While on the ground, the victim told investigators Barrios went through her pockets and took both her cellphone and a cellphone belonging to her boss. She said she believes she lost consciousness during the attack, and prosecutors say a visible bruise to her stomach "consistent with a shoe impression" was noted by officers. 

The following day, Barrios dropped off a statement at the front counter of the police department, according to the complaint, denying the attack and calling the victim's statement false.

Barrios was arrested in Arkansas on Jan. 23. 

A second woman in Arkansas, identified by Racine police as Melvina Lewis, was arrested for harboring or aiding a felon. 


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