Father now believes man purposely ran over pregnant daughter - FOX 35 News Orlando

A father who defended the young man accused of killing his pregnant daughter says he's changed his mind after seeing the evidence.

Brian Feltman is accused of running over his pregnant girlfriend last month.

The day after the incident, Meghan's father, Lawrence Pope, said that he believed that Feltman hadn't done it on purpose. But Pope says that he has since changed his mind after talking with investigators and looking at the evidence.

"There were no skid marks, no attempt to stop -- he hit her in the middle of the truck," said Pope. "My daughter suffered tremendously for the last 30, 40 minutes she laid there. That hurts every night when we think about this."

Pope now believes that his daughter, who was four months pregnant when she died, was in an abusive relationship, had fought with Feltman and broke up with him.  He said that he talked with Feltman after it happened.

"He told me that when he hit her, he didn't know it was her and he left and went to the house, hollered her name out three times and she did not come downstairs. And so he knew at that time he had run over Meghan," said Lawrence Pope.

Feltman is now out of jail on bond. The judge reduced his charge from murder to vehicular homicide. Pope says he never thought he'd get out of jail.

"This is an opportunity for him to get right with God and save his soul," said Pope. "Justice will come out. I don't know what that justice will be but not I'm willing to set it in my heart and say ‘this is what has to be done.'"

Pope says that he's forgiven Feltman and has no ill will toward his family. He says he hopes that something good will somehow come out of his daughter's death.