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Robert Wiley, 24, of Norristown, was arrested on Aug. 18, after authorities were called to a home on Powell Street that morning for a reported domestic disturbance, said District Attorney Kevin Steele in a statement.
Investigators say Wiley punched and kicked his sleeping, 26-year-old girlfriend while she slept. When she woke up, police say Wiley continued the beating and announced he was trying to "kill the baby."
The woman was 21 weeks pregnant at the time, officials noted.
Authorities said he strangled her until she blacked out, then continued his assault, and that he only stopped when family members arrived at the home.
At the time, Wiley was charged with aggravated assault on both his girlfriend and her unborn child and booked in Mongomery County jail, where he remains, the DA said.
After the attack, the victim was examined at Genuardi Family Center for Maternal Health, but was transferred to Einstein Medical Center in East Norriton when doctors could not find her child's heartbeat, officials wrote
She delivered the baby, a girl, as a stillborn on Aug. 19 and named her Naomi, authorities said.
The cause of the baby's death was pending the results of an autopsy until Tuesday, Nov. 15, when the Montgomery County Coroner's Office determined she died from "intrauterine fetal demise and placental trauma," according to the DA.
Wiley remains in county lockup, as there is no bail for defendants charged with first-degree murder of an unborn child, Steele noted. His arraignment and a preliminary hearing for the new charges had not been scheduled as of Friday afternoon.
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