A Lake County judge on Wednesday sentenced Cortez Morehead to 24 years in prison after he admitted confining a woman in a Gary apartment and causing the death of her four-month-old fetus. The attack unfolded inside a home where the woman’s four children were present, according to court testimony. The punishment caps a months-long investigation that pulled together surveillance footage and medical evidence and follows a guilty plea entered earlier this year.
Morehead, 26, pleaded guilty to feticide and criminal confinement, both Level 3 felonies. He received the 24-year term after a sentencing hearing tied to the July 29, 2025 incident, as reported by the Chicago Tribune. Prosecutors told the court the plea deal wrapped up an upgraded set of charges that had been filed after the initial arrest.
“He killed her baby,” Deputy Prosecutor Infinity Westberg told the judge, according to the Chicago Tribune. Prosecutors also said Morehead contacted the victim more than 100 times from jail and noted he had a prior domestic-battery arrest. Lake County’s Sexual Assault Response Team lists Westberg as a deputy prosecutor, according to Lake County SART.
How the assault unfolded
Prosecutors said the violence began when Morehead returned to an apartment in the 1000 block of Van Buren Street in Gary, then punched and dragged the woman inside. She eventually escaped to a neighbor’s doorstep, where she had visible injuries. At the plea and sentencing hearings, prosecutors pointed to Ring doorbell video and medical reports documenting that she later delivered a nonviable fetus. Earlier local coverage detailed the initial slate of charges filed after officers responded to the scene, according to Region News.
Family and community reaction
A letter from the victim, read aloud in court, said she had hosted a gender-reveal celebration just days before the attack and had been expecting a boy, a detail family members echoed during the hearing. Relatives and community members told reporters the sentence was important to them, with one person saying that “no man should ever put his hands on a woman,” according to Yahoo/Chicago Tribune.
Charges and background
Initial court filings listed a long list of counts, including feticide, aggravated battery resulting in the loss of a fetus, criminal confinement resulting in serious bodily injury, domestic battery and auto theft. Prosecutors later negotiated the plea that resolved some of those charges. Records and prior reporting indicate Morehead has earlier felony convictions and an outstanding warrant related to a previous domestic-battery case, according to Region News.
A Gary police spokesman did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Lake County prosecutors said the 24-year sentence reflects the severity of the harm done to the victim and her unborn child. The case is expected to remain a flashpoint locally as advocates continue to push for stronger protections for survivors of intimate-partner violence, according to Yahoo/Chicago Tribune.
