Angry, PCP-Using Brother Shoots Pregnant Sister and Kills Her Baby: Prosecutor

CHICAGO, IL — William Welch's anger and PCP habit brought death and devastation to his sister's Chicago home last Sunday, according to Cook County prosecutors, who say he fired shots into the pregnant woman's belly when she tried to kick him out of her house.

The bullets struck her spleen and kidney and forced doctors to deliver her baby at 27 weeks by emergency C section. The infant lingered for two days at Mount Sinai Hospital but couldn't survive.

Now Welch, 38, of the 1600 block of South Springfield Avenue, is charged with first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder. He appeared before a judge Friday, who ordered him held without bail.

Sunday morning, Welch's sister was getting ready for church. The night before, she and her husband got into an argument with Welch over his drug habit and behavior, according to prosecutors, and ordered him out of their home. He'd been flopping at their home for a year. He refused to leave, and they called 911, according to a Chicago Tribune report.

He left, but returned that night and slept. The argument resumed Sunday morning.

Welch pointed his gun at his brother-in-law's forehead and pulled the trigger, but the gun didn't fire, according to prosecutors.

As the brother-in-law ran, prosecutors said on Friday, Welch's sister confronted him and Welch shot her twice, screaming "Bitch, f--- you." He fled the home and surrendered to police on the street two days later — the same day the baby died, according to a police statement.

A Cook County Medical Examiner's autopsy concluded the newborn's death was a homicide due to complications from extreme premature birth, emergency C section and gunshot wound to the mother.
The mother, 35, remains in critical condition.

Assistant Public Defender Kathryn Lisco told the judge Welch has learning disabilities, according to a Chicago Sun-Times report.