Jason Futch
reporter2.riverbendnews@gmail.com
An attack on a pregnant woman at Hatch Park resulted in the arrest of the suspect, who allegedly abandoned her child at the park after the attack.
According to the arrest report, on Tuesday, March 25, at approximately 7:30 p.m., Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) Deputy Wesley Stoffel arrived at Hatch Park in Branford after receiving information on an alleged assault that occurred. Upon arrival, Deputy Stoffel was met by a group of people surrounding the victim of the attack, who was sitting in the parking lot.
The victim stated that she was preparing to leave the park with her kids when 43-year-old O’Brien resident Jessica Durden Mcilwain walked up to the victim, grabbed her by the face and shoved her to the ground. When the victim got back up, Mcilwain grabbed her by the hair, threw her back on the ground and allegedly began hitting her in the face with a closed fist several times.
While she was attacking the victim, several bystanders informed Mcilwain that the victim was pregnant, to which she responded that she didn’t “give a f***” and continued hitting her. During the attack, a witness came up and attempted to break up the fight but was also struck by Mcilwain six times before being shoved away.
The victim said that she was with her 6-year-old son when the altercation occurred. She was checked for injuries by an Emergency Medical Services team and was taken to the hospital by her friend for further evaluation and to check the health of the unborn child.
The report further stated that, after the attack, Mcilwain returned to her son’s baseball game as if nothing happened. When she noticed that bystanders had called Suwannee County Emergency Dispatch, she left the park, leaving her son alone without a guardian. When Deputy Stoffel arrived, all games and practices had concluded, and her son was still not picked up, nor did he have a guardian present.
After collecting information about the incident, Deputy Stoffel and Deputy Pete Merola arrived at Mcilwain’s residence in O’Brien, where her live-in boyfriend said that she had come back from the park without her son and began packing clothes up. When asked what happened, Mcilwain told her boyfriend that she may be going to jail for attacking “that lying husband f****r.”
The boyfriend and Deputy Stoffel attempted to call Mcilwain, but she did not pick up her phone or return home. While waiting for Mcilwain, her father arrived at the house to pick up clothes for her and her son for school the next day. When asked if he knew where she was, Mcilwain’s father said that he did not know and went inside the home with the boyfriend.
At approximately 4:30 a.m., Mcilwain turned herself in at the Suwannee County Jail and has been charged with aggravated battery on a pregnant woman and child neglect. She was released shortly after on a $10,000 bond.