Moorhead police called to a domestic violence case that caused a woman to lose her baby

MOORHEAD, Minn. (Valley News Live) - A Moorhead man is facing multiple charges after allegedly assaulting a woman and threatening her life. His charges are third degree murder of an unborn child, domestic assault by strangulation, 3rd degree assault- substantial bodily harm and threats of violence.

On March 15 at 4:44 p.m., Moorhead Police officers were called to 1016 18th Street South. Dispatch said a woman was heard crying and screaming, with a male voice in the background. Officers arrived and entered the apartment with guns and tasers drawn, because a woman was screaming and no one was answering the door.

A man, who was later identified as Richard Leroy Basswood, III, was seen coming around the corner, but when he saw the officers he ran back into the hallway out of sight. He was given multiple demands to come out and show his hands, but be remained hidden.

Court records say Basswood finally complied with commands to go to the ground.

An officer found the woman laying in the bathroom, covered in blood and bleeding from her face, nose and mouth. They say she was gasping for air and slumped over and stopped breathing. Court records say an officer woke her up, and the woman started coughing and spitting up dark clots of blood saying “I’m so scared, I’m so scared”.

When speaking with paramedics, the woman said she was 16 weeks pregnant and was taken to a local hospital for treatment.

After a preliminary medical evaluation, the woman spoke with police and said she was worried and kept saying “he’s gonna get me, where is he?” After she was reassured that the defendant was in custody, she gave a statement.

According to the criminal complaint, the woman said Basswood had been drinking and was supposed to move out of the apartment. He got angry when she told him that the landlord was at the building.

The woman says Basswood started punching her repeatedly in the head with both hands and continued to yell at her. She said he also put both of his hands around her neck and strangled her to the point that she couldn’t breathe. She says she tried to block the punches with her right arm and thought he was going to break her arm as he struck it. The woman told officers she curled up to try to protect her stomach area and Basswood allegedly told her she was not going to make it out of this alive.

She told the defendant she wanted to go to the bathroom to check if she was bleeding due to the pregnancy. As she was crawling to the bathroom, he picked her up by the hair and carried her to the bathroom. She says she believes her feet were off the ground when he did this. He then threw her in the bathroom and shut the door on her.

This is when the victim called 911, and she believes Basswood heard her on the phone and came into the bathroom. She told him the reason she called 911 was because the baby was coming. He started strangling her again with both hands around her neck but then switched to a choke hold.

On March 16, an officer followed up with the woman, who said she was still in the hospital. She said she had a broken nose, cheek bone and swollen eye. Nurses were unable to get a heartbeat and she said she lost the child, court records state.

On March 17, a detective talked with Basswood at the Clay County Jail. Court documents say a “buddy from downstairs” brought him some Lyricas which he then took with alcohol. He said when he woke up he had a bunch of blood on his hands and said “I must have thrown her around or something” and denied hitting her because his hands weren’t swollen. He said “usually when I do hit her, like my hands swell up and I know I didn’t punch her or nothing so I must have slapped her up or something.”

He said that based on how she was acting that night, the first thing he would have done was hit her, punch her or start swinging at her. He also said he does not remember his interactions with the police.

A review of the defendant’s criminal history indicates the following prior convictions: Domestic assault by Strangulation (2007), GM Domestic Assault (2008), 3rd degree Assault (November 5, 2014), felony Failure to Appear (2012) 5th Degree controlled substance - possession (2021), Felony 5th degree controlled substance (2013) Felony DWI (2014).

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