Police in La Crosse, Wisconsin have arrested and charged college professor Matthew Sierra for the alleged murder of 27-year-old Alexis Pickett and her unborn child.
The charges stem from an investigation into a residential fire in which 27-year-old Pickett and her unborn child were found dead. Sierra, who is 38, now faces charges including first-degree intentional homicide. He – who taught mechanical design at Western Technical College – has been placed on administrative leave. Authorities allege that although Sierra and Pickett already had one child together, he opposed the prospect of another. It is further
claimed that Sierra pressured Pickett to have an abortion after she became pregnant again, but she refused. It’s also reported that a witness told police Sierra “freaked-out” and threatened Pickett if she refused to get an abortion.
We don’t need to point out to regular readers of Vital Signs that stories like this are becoming all too common – in Ireland as well as across the US and Europe. Yet there’s still no national or international taskforce in place to examine what is happening, to assess the true scale of the problem, or to recommend the corrective action needed to end this scourge and appalling violation of women and their babies.