Colorado Springs police have identified the pregnant woman who died in a car crash early Wednesday as Beatrice Sabimana, 26, of Colorado Springs.
Sabimana was having abdominal pains and her husband, Noheri Manirakiza, 26, was driving her to the hospital when he veered off the road.
Sabimana died of a broken neck at the scene, and rescue workers were unable to successfully deliver her full-term fetus, which also died.
Manirakiza was treated at a hospital for “chest contusions” and released.
Police have determined that Manirakiza was attending to Sabimana “out of concern” while he was driving, according to a news release. This was not the first child for Sabimana, and neither she nor Manirakiza thought she was giving birth. Their 2004 Kia Sedona minivan went off the right side of the road. It hit the curb, a 6-inch diameter tree and the concrete base of a sign.
A witness aided the police investigation, and officers found no signs of alcohol, speeding or vehicle malfunction. Both Manirakiza and Sabimana were wearing seat belts, and the vehicle’s air bags deployed.
Police and the district attorney’s office agreed that no charges were warranted against Manirakiza, the release said, “especially considering the significant loss and tragedy that has resulted.”
The couple has two other children, girls ages 5 and 3. Manirakiza and his wife were both refugees from the African country of Burundi.
