Giacomo Bologna

GBOLOGNA@NEWS-LEADER.COM

Police say a Springfield man assaulted and killed a woman pregnant with his child Wednesday.

Derik C. Osborn, 33, has been charged with two counts of murder after police responded to an apartment complex in south Springfield early Wednesday morning and found a 27-year-old woman who wasn't breathing.

Lt. Culley Wilson said it wasn't initially apparent that Valerie L. Williams had been assaulted when police arrived at Kelly Greens Apartments on South National Avenue at 1:44 a.m., but it was later discovered she had suffered a serious head injury and a lacerated liver.

Williams was 16 weeks pregnant, and Osborn allegedly said he was the father.

Court documents said Osborn had a history of domestic violence against Williams. Osborn told police he and Williams had recently reconciled after a breakup and were moving in together, according to a probable cause statement.

The statement said Osborn told police Williams came to pick him up from a bar earlier that night because he was too drunk to drive and that they got into an argument in the parking lot.

Osborn allegedly told police he pushed her out of his car and drove back to the apartment alone and went to bed.

According to the statement, Osborn said he was in bed for 15 minutes when Williams arrived home, and they got into an argument. She pulled out a can of pepper spray, Osborn allegedly told police, and as he struggled to get it away from her, she fell and hit her head on the floor.

Osborn told police he thought Williams might be "knocked out," the statement said, and after 10 minutes he carried her to bed, then called 911.

Osborn told police he performed CPR on Williams, the statement said.

According to the statement, a neurosurgeon told police that Williams' injuries were not consistent with falling from a standing position.

The bond recommendation filed by prosecutors Thursday said Williams was the alleged victim of Osborn in an earlier misdemeanor assault case.

Four months before Wednesday's homicide, Osborn was criminally charged after he allegedly attacked a woman, identified in court documents only as "V.W."

Police say Osborn became angry at the woman, shoved her on the ground, then picked her up and began slamming her against objects inside a closet.

According to a probable cause statement, Osborn grabbed the woman by the jaw, shoved her against the door frame, then grabbed her face and yelled at her.

The woman told police she began crying, and Osborn slapped away her hands when she tried to wipe away tears, the statement said.

Osborn then forced the woman onto the floor and put his knee into her stomach and his arms against her chest, the statement said.

When the woman spoke to police, she had a cut on her lip, a bruise on her right arm, a bump on her head and a cut on the back of her shoulder, according to the statement.

Carl Foerstner, 69, lives next door to where the homicide took place with his wife and cat. He said a young couple moved into the apartment where the homicide took place on Sunday and that it seemed like they hadn't fully moved in yet.

"They seemed cordial enough. He seemed standoffish," Foerstner said. "He was very buff, and she was just a little thing."

Foerstner said when it began hailing hard early Wednesday morning, he went outside and drove his car to a nearby bank with a canopy to make sure his car wouldn't get damaged. Foerstner said he drove back to his apartment when the hail let up and he saw police "everywhere" as well as an ambulance and firetruck.

As Foerstner walked back to his apartment, he said he saw inside his neighbor's apartment where a man was sitting on the floor, being questioned by police.

It was an atypical night, Foerstner said.

"Kellly Greens (Apartments), for the most part, is a very safe and quiet place to live," he said.