Man Charged With Killing, Dumping Body Of Pregnant Girlfriend

CHARLOTTE, NC -- Charlotte police have arrested a man they say killed his pregnant girlfriend and dumped her body alongside a road across the state line in Fort Mill, S.C.

Mahmood Amjad Bhatti, 28, was arrested around 12 a.m. Wednesday morning without incident following a joint investigation between Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department and the York County Sheriff's Office, less than a week after the body of a woman was discovered Oct. 19 on the side of the Dobys Bridge Road. After an autopsy, investigators learned she was pregnant and had been killed elsewhere before being dumped alongside the rural state road dotted with housing developments south of Interstate-485.

(Sign up for our free daily newsletters and Breaking News Alerts for the Charlotte Patch. iPhone users can download the Patch app in the App Store. Plus, like Charlotte Patch on Facebook.)

The day after the grisly roadside discovery, Natalie Nicholle Merrick, 23, was reported missing from her home in the 5600 block of Via Romano Drive, CMPD said. Soon thereafter, investigators determined she was the woman found in Fort Mill.

Bhatti and Merrick “were in a long time relationship and had a child in common,” CMPD said. Bhatti has been charged with murder and murder of an unborn child, and is now in the custody of the Mecklenburg County jail.

CMPD asks that anyone with information about this incident call 704-432-TIPS, or Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600.

Photo via Pixabay