Alabama judge vacates sentence of woman convicted for stillbirth

Dec. 30 (UPI) -- An Alabama judge has vacated the conviction of a woman sentenced to 18 years in prison for the death of her unborn baby upon discovery of new evidence that may show she may not be to blame for the stillbirth.

Lee County Circuit Judge Jeffrey Tickal ordered a new trial for Brooke Shoemaker, who has served five years of her 2020 sentence for chemical endangerment of a child resulting in death. Her baby was stillborn at 24 weeks to 26 weeks of pregnancy in 2017.

Shoemaker told authorities she had used methamphetamine while pregnant, leading to her arrest and ultimate conviction.

"The baby had five times more meth in his system than the defendant," Lee County District Attorney Brandon Hughes said of the case, according to WRBL-TV in Columbus, Ga. "Due to the investigative work of the Auburn Police Division and prosecution, the jury took less than an hour to reach a guilty verdict."

Related

• Federal judge temporarily halts South Sudanese deportations
• Judge: Federal Reserve must fund the CFPB during appeals
• Judge: ICE can use limited Medicaid data for enforcement
• Judge rules that transcript of Charlie Kirk killer's hearing be made public

Shoemaker's lawyers, however, sought a new trial based on evidence that shows the baby died from an infection, not the drugs.

Tickal threw out the conviction in a ruling filed Dec. 22, and prosecutors appealed the decision. Shoemaker remains in prison pending the appeal.

"After years of fighting, I'm thankful that I'm finally being heard, and I pray that my next Christmas will be at home with my children and parents," Shoemaker said in a statement to Al.com.

"I'm hopeful that my new trial will end with me being freed, because I simply lost my pregnancy at home because of an infection. I loved and wanted my baby, and I never deserved this."

Pregnancy Injustice, a nonprofit organization that fights for the rights of pregnant people, released a report in October showing that Alabama arrested more pregnant women than any other state from June 2022 to June 2024. Most of the arrests involve the use of drugs.

The organization said Shoemaker delivered her baby pre-term at home and a friend called paramedics for assistance.

"Instead of being met with the healthcare she needed, a detective interrogated her at her bedside," a statement from Pregnancy Injustice said. "Although a medical examiner could not determine the cause of the stillbirth, and her placenta showed clear signs of infection, police arrested Ms. Shoemaker and charged her with Class A chemical endangerment of a minor; a conviction carries a potential life sentence."

UPI Pictures of the Year: 25 stunning images

Clouds turn shades of red and orange when the sun sets behind One World Trade Center and the Manhattan skyline in New York City on November 5, 2025. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo