A Mishawaka teen is charged with feticide. What that means, and the potential punishment.

Sixteen-year old Aaron Trejo faces a charge of homicide for killing his 17-year old Mishawaka High School classmate.

He also faces a charge of fetal homicide, or feticide.

Court documents say that Breana Rouhselang was six months pregnant and Trejo knew, believing he was the father of the baby.

In Indiana, knowingly or intentionally killing a fetus in any developmental stage is murder, unless a woman has an abortion or terminates her own pregnancy. If convicted of feticide, an additional six to 20 years may be added to a sentence. 

"Fetal homicide laws are a new theme across state law," said Jody Madeira, a professor at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law. "They come about in response to a heinous murder, or in response to pro-life efforts. Usually they are cast as laws that help to vindicate victims' rights."

Until this year, Indiana law allowed a prosecutor to bring just one charge when a pregnant woman is murdered. A law Gov. Eric Holcomb signed in March allows two charges if the accused knew his victim was pregnant.

The bill was proposed by Sen. Aaron Freeman, R-Indianapolis, who was motivated by a woman in his district whose pregnant daughter was murdered.

Madeira said 38 U.S. states currently have feticide laws, with 29 state laws, including Indiana's, applying to the earliest stages of pregnancy. She said the law is "clearly meant to add additional charges in a homicide case," which is what's happening in the Mishawaka case.

"It seems incredibly clear that he might be the first case to have a successful feticide charge under this law," she said. 

Indiana's first feticide statute was passed in 1979, making it a level three felony to intentionally end a pregnancy "with an intention other than to produce a live birth or to remove a dead fetus," except for legal abortions. The sentence ranged from three to 16 years in prison. 

In 2008, Brian Kendrick of Indianapolis was convicted of feticide and attempted murder when he shot a bank teller pregnant with twins during a robbery. The Indiana Court of Appeals overturned the conviction because the charges conflicted with Indiana's double jeopardy law. But the case prompted lawmakers to increase the feticide prison sentence to six to 20 years. 

Another well-known case in 2013 involved Purvi Patel of Granger, who took abortion drugs to terminate her own pregnancy. She disposed of the fetus in a dumpster, and became the first woman to be convicted of feticide for her own miscarriage. She was sentenced to to 20 years in prison in 2015, but in 2016, an Indiana appeals court overturned the conviction when judges said the law was not intended to apply to abortions. 

Kellie Hwang is a reporter at IndyStar. You can email her at kellie.hwang@indystar.com. Follow her on Twitter: @KellieHwang.