A Florida woman accused of murder after allegedly opening fire during an argument inside a packed Uber should be freed from jail because her unborn child has not been charged with any crime and is being “held unlawfully,” her attorney argued.
Natalia Harrell has remained in the custody of the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center since July 26, 2022, when she was ordered held without bond for second-degree murder in the July 23 shooting death of Gladys Yvette Borcela, records show.
The fatal spat was caught on video and showed several people inside a ride-share vehicle as the pair began arguing and Harrell allegedly opened fire.
Months later, Harrell’s attorney, William M. Norris, is arguing his client’s unborn child and Harrell should be immediately released from jail because the fetus “has not been charged with a criminal offense.”
A petition for habeas corpus was filed against the Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department and its director.
As of Thursday’s habeas corpus filing, Harrell was eight months pregnant. But Harrell has not been receiving adequate prenatal care or nutrition and has not been examined by an outside doctor since October, her attorney wrote.
Norris further argues that Harrell and her unborn child are being held “in a cell block or pod where violent criminals are housed with” them, including inmates who are “housed in the pod because they have been disciplined or under investigation for fighting or committing crimes or violation of the prison rules.”
“UNBORN CHILD’S constitutionally protected due process rights have been clearly violated,” the filing states.
“Absent immediate release of UNBORN CHILD from the Respondents, UNBORN CHILD will be likely brought into this world on the concrete floor of the prison cell, without the aid of qualified medical physicians and paramedics, and in the presence of violent criminals.”
Marc Shiner, a longtime Florida-based criminal defense attorney, told Fox News Digital a habeas corpus proceeding “is basically saying, ‘You’re holding my client illegally.’”
He described how Florida and federal law dictate that unborn fetuses should be recognized as legal victims when impacted in the commission of several different types of crimes, even before a trial.
“We do recognize, in many situations, unborn fetuses as a victim,” Shiner said. “So, if they’re a victim for criminal purposes, why are they not a criminal for penalty purposes, for penal purposes, when locking up the mother who’s not even found guilty? She’s presumed innocent.”
Harrell was six weeks pregnant July 23, 2022, when she shot 28-year-old Borcela inside an Uber near Southeast First Avenue and First Street in Miami, according to court papers and officials.
Video from inside the ride-share vehicle shows the pair arguing in the back seat before Harrell moves toward the front and reaches for something in her purse.
She turns toward the victim, and the pair continue to exchange words as Harrell’s hand remains in her purse.
A man seated in the front passenger seat grabs her forearm and repeatedly tells her, “Don’t do that.”
“Get off my hand,” she tells him. “Can you let me go.” The vehicle is in motion throughout the argument.
Harrell and Borcela continue to exchange words for over a minute, and Harrell frees her hand. Borcela appears to lunge forward and extend her hand toward Harrell, at which point Harrell fires the gun.
Borcela, who was reportedly a mother of three, was struck once in the chest and could not be saved.
Harrell was charged with second-degree murder. Her attorney argues Harrell shot Borcela after the victim “continued to threaten” her and “attempted to assault” her.
In response to Norris’ argument in the habeas corpus filing, Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Director James Reyes, who is named in the filing, responded that Harrell’s first pregnancy test in the jail’s custody — July 26, 2022 — was negative. He said Harrell ultimately tested positive on Aug. 12.
Reyes and the state noted that the filing should be dropped altogether because it is missing key records.
Harrell weighed 106 pounds on Aug. 22, 2022, compared to the 140 pounds she weighed on Feb. 16, 2023, the response states. And she has a history of declining or refusing her own medical treatment, Reyes wrote.
“Petitioner has been taken to at least four obstetrician appointments outside of the jail and, notably, refused to attend a fifth,” the response states. “[Harrell] has been offered prenatal vitamins on a daily basis for months. She has refused prenatal vitamins on more than one occasion, as recently as January 16, 2023 … [and] has refused to allow nurses and medical providers to measure the fetal heart rate.”
She has had at least 11 medical visits since August 2022, the response states. Her last appointment was inside the jail on Feb. 17.
Reyes’ attorneys wrote that Harrell would be transferred to the infirmary once she reaches 36 weeks pregnant and would be taken to the hospital to deliver the baby.
The state wrote that Harrell’s past motions included only “sparse” details regarding alleged medical mistreatment.
State attorneys argued that the petition for habeas corpus should be dismissed because it “is not available as a substitute for other legal proceedings.”
“Petitioner neither claims that the mother’s arrest was illegal, challenges the trial court’s finding of probable cause, nor does Petitioner assert that there has been a wrongful denial of bail,” the state wrote in its response. Instead, her “claim solely relates to the alleged inadequacy of medical and prenatal care. As the claim has no legal bearing on the lawfulness of Petitioner’s detention, habeas corpus is not a proper vehicle for Petitioner’s claim.”
Loren Parra, a spokesperson for Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, told Fox News Digital the county corrections department “partners with Jackson Health System to provide healthcare to the inmates in our custody, and we are committed to ensuring all inmates receive professional, timely medical care and all appropriate treatment.”
She added: “We are conducting a full review of the health services offered to ensure that all pre-natal care being provided in our custody is appropriate.”
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