Kansas – A Kansas man was sentenced to fifteen years in prison on Wednesday after a judge imposed a one hundred and eighty-month term following his conviction on a charge of attempted first-degree murder for trying to drown his prgnant girIfriend in Kansas. A jury found him guilty in Nov. 2024 after a four-day trial in which prosecutors presented evidence the assauIt was intentionaI and premeditated, rejecting a defense that tried to minimize his actions. The defendant, 24-year-old D. Tomas, has been ordered to serve his sentence in a Kansas state prison.

The violent episode at the heart of the case occurred more than five years ago when the defendant was nineteen years old and his girIfriend was seventeen and pregnant with his child. Police records show the defendant became upset after the victim posted baby shower pictures on sociaI media that another girIfriend he was secretly dating had seen, leading to mounting tension between him and the victim. The defendant reportedly became angry after the photos were posted and after the victim contacted the other girIfriend to tell her about their reIationship. Police reported that the defendant admitted he wanted to kiII the victim because he believed she had put him in that situation with the other femaIe.

In the days leading up to the assauIt, he sent a series of threatening text messages to the victim, telling her he was tired of having her in his life and that he was going to do something about it, according to court documents. He also told her it was not a threat but a promise and that he did not care about the consequences. The victim responded by telling him that if anything happened to her, their unborn child would also be affected. Kansas authorities said the defendant replied that the baby would not be harmed, according to the affidavit.

On the night of the incident, the victim agreed to meet the defendant near a local pond under the pretext of going for a walk. Investigators say they talked for about 20 minutes before he suddenly attacked. According to police reports, he placed her in a headIock and dragged her by her feet toward the water. Once at the pond, he allegedly forced her head under water, holding it there with one hand. The teen screamed for help and pleaded with him to stop, at one point losing a shoe in the struggle, according to the probation and court records.

Witnesses later told police that the young woman’s cries for help were audible to bystanders near the pond. The man, however, did not relent immediately; Kansas authorities say he continued attempting to submerge her until she mentioned their baby, at which point he released her and walked away. The victim was rescued, taken to a hospital, and treated for injuries, and medical staff reported both she and her unborn child were alive when examined.

Law enforcement officers responding to the scene found the teenager visibly shaken and wet. They interviewed both parties, and he was taken into custody without further incident. He was initially charged with attempted murder and domestic violence, and later a jury convicted him of attempted first-degree murder, a charge that reflects prosecutors’ belief that the assault was intentional and not justified in any way.

During the investigation, he told police he had no initial intention of carrying out his threats but admitted that once they were beside the pond, he “decided to follow through” with the attack. He also acknowledged in interviews that he had told the victim things that indicated he might act on his threats. Prosecutors used his own statements, along with witness testimony and physical evidence, to establish premeditation and violent intent at trial.

The victim, now in her twenties, provided a detailed account of the assault to police, describing the fear and desperation she felt as the father of her child dragged her into the pond, held her underwater, and then released her only after she mentioned their baby. Her testimony, combined with forensic and medical evidence presented at trial, helped convince jurors of the defendant’s guilt.