Charges stand in rat poison baby death

INDIANAPOLIS (AP/WISH) - A judge has refused to dismiss charges of murder and attempted feticide against an Indianapolis woman accused of killing her premature baby by eating rat poison before giving birth.

Attorneys for 34-year-old Bei Bei Shuai are expected to appeal Tuesday's Marion County court ruling. Shuai is expected to have a September jury trial.

Defense attorneys argued Shuai was trying to commit suicide, not commit murder.

Prosecutors insist Shuai intended to kill her fetus when she ate rat poison in December while she was 33 weeks pregnant. Doctors delivered her daughter prematurely Dec. 31, and the child died three days later.

Shuai's attorneys argue courts have held pregnant women shouldn't be prosecuted for harming themselves. Medical groups have argued that fear of prosecution might prevent pregnant women from seeking prenatal care.