Curtis Grayer was convicted of felony murder, rape, and other crimes in connection with repeated instances of sexual and physical abuse of his young step-daughter, L. H, resulting in the conception and birth of an extremely premature infant, who, having received no medical attention, died within a few hours of birth. Appellant appeals the denial of his amended motion for new trial. For the reasons that follow, we affirm in part and vacate in part.1 The jury was authorized to find that appellant repeatedly molested his step-daughter, L. H., beginning when she was seven years old. Despite initial requests to stop from both L. H. and appellant’s wife, Sheila Hearns, appellant repeatedly engaged in sexual intercourse with L. H. while Hearns was at home and sometimes while Hearns was in the same room. In May 2002, L. H. and her mother discovered that L. H., who was then ten years old, was pregnant. Out of fear that his abuse would be discovered, appellant did not allow L. H. to receive any medical treatment during her pregnancy, withdrew her from school, and forbade her from leaving the house without him, locking her and Hearns in the house with the windows nailed shut. During her pregnancy, appellant forced her to wear tight belts to hide her pregnancy and on numerous occasions punched and stomped on L. H.’s stomach in attempt to induce a miscarriage.
In October 2002, while sitting on the toilet at home, L. H. gave birth to a baby boy with a gestational age of approximately 24 weeks, whom she named Kevin Lamont Hearns. Appellant refused to allow L. H. or the baby to go to the hospital after the birth. L. H.’s mother cared for the baby during the night, but when L. H. awoke, the baby was dead. Appellant took the baby, placed him in a box with a teddy bear and blanket, and dropped the box into nearby McAfee Lake. Soon thereafter, L. H. and her mother went to live in Virginia with relatives, in whom L. H. eventually confided about her ordeal, and who thereafter contacted police. In September 2003, investigators searched appellant’s house and partially drained the lake; though the baby’s body was never recovered, investigators did find various items at appellant’s house corroborating details of L. H.’s story, including screws and multiple locks on various windows and doors, pornographic videos, and a police baton with which L.H. witnessed appellant beat her mother.
