A 31-year-old West Palm Beach man is facing attempted first-degree murder charges after police say he stabbed and strangled his six-month-pregnant girlfriend during a visit to see their one-year-old child Saturday night. D'Andre Burgess was arrested after officers responded to a stabbing call at a home on Lincoln Road around 4:52 p.m., where investigators say an argument with his girlfriend spiraled into a brutal, sustained attack witnessed by a family member.
According to WPEC, Burgess and the victim were at the home to see their child when the argument broke out and Burgess pulled a knife from his waistband. He allegedly told her they were both going to die or that he would spend 100 years in jail, then stabbed her as she tried to shield her unborn child, according to the probable cause affidavit cited in the report.
A family member who witnessed the attack tried but was unable to pull Burgess off the victim, then grabbed the knife, allowing her to run inside, the station's report states. But the victim ran inside the home, and per the same affidavit, Burgess followed and continued the assault, choking her until she could not speak and was gasping for air.
Victim Rushed to Trauma Center With Multiple Wounds
Police said the victim suffered lacerations to her neck, hand, knee and breast during the attack. She was taken to St. Mary's Medical Center under a trauma alert, one of only two state-designated Level I Trauma Centers in Palm Beach County, which maintains round-the-clock surgical teams for life-threatening injuries, according to St. Mary's Medical Center.
Burgess was charged with attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery on a pregnant woman and felony domestic battery by strangulation, the report notes. Under Florida Statute § 784.045(1)(b), battery against a person known to be pregnant automatically elevates to aggravated battery, a second-degree felony carrying up to 15 years in prison and a $10,000 fine, according to the Florida Legislature. Separately, domestic battery by strangulation is a third-degree felony under state law punishable by up to five years, while attempted first-degree murder can carry a life sentence.
Pattern of Prior Domestic Violence Allegations
Law enforcement had responded to multiple domestic calls involving Burgess and the same victim over the past two years, per court and police records cited in the report. Court documents show Burgess has a history of domestic violence allegations and was previously arrested for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, domestic battery by strangulation and aggravated stalking.
That pattern underscores why public health researchers treat non-fatal strangulation as a critical warning sign. A national study in the Journal of Emergency Medicine found that victims who survive a non-fatal intimate partner strangulation are 750 percent more likely to later be killed by the same partner, according to Safe Alliance. Research from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine has also found that homicide is a leading cause of death among pregnant and postpartum women in the U.S., exceeding major obstetric causes of maternal mortality such as hemorrhage or sepsis.
New State Laws Target Repeat Offenders
The case also lands amid a wave of legislative changes aimed at domestic violence enforcement in Florida. House Bill 277 took effect statewide in July, increasing criminal penalties for repeat domestic violence offenders and expanding statutory protections for survivors, according to WPEC. A separate measure, House Bill 397, created an offense for violating no-contact orders imposed during pretrial release in violent crime cases; a first violation is a misdemeanor, while subsequent violations are felonies, according to the Palm Beach County Legislative Affairs office.
Local victim services remain a key part of the response to cases like this one. Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse provides support, information, referrals and access to services including emergency shelter, and operates a 24-hour crisis hotline at (800) 355-8547.
This marks at least the third attempted murder or near-fatal stabbing case Hoodline has covered in West Palm Beach in recent weeks, following a similar case involving a 72-year-old man accused of chasing a stabbing victim into a fire station. The current medical condition of Burgess's girlfriend and her unborn child, along with the outcomes of his prior arrests, had not been detailed as of the latest report.
