ATLANTA, GA – Prosper Ortega's family says just six months ago, she was a happy 23-year-old bride. Photos show her beaming and posing with her growing belly. Their child, Ari, would be born June 16th.
Now, Prosper in the hospital in serious condition after that same husband, Aaron Uchitel, is charged with aggravated battery, false imprisonment, and cruelty to children. Ortega's family says he tortured her for days, drugging her beverages to keep her weak.
Prosper's family says it all happened in front of their weeks-old infant baby boy.
The pictures of injuries are difficult to see, but Ortega's family says she insisted they post them because she wanted people to see what had happened to her.
[Warning: Some may find the images disturbing]
"Her ribs are broken. He beat her ribs and breast saying her milk was useless and she was worthless," said Fawn Ortega, Prosper's mother. "He tried to blind her so she couldn't see her baby, he tried to make her deaf so she couldn't hear him crying for her."
Prosper believes Uchitel threatened to leave with the baby, so that's why she endured the abuse believing it would make him stay.
Prosper faces multiple medical procedures, and the online community has rallied around that need, donating more than $67,000.
Read more about this story here.
Domestic Abuse Rates by Gender of Victim in the US | Graphiq
Female Victims of Intimate Partner Violence by Type of Injury | HealthGrove
Women Who Have Experienced Sexual or Physical Violence | HealthGrove