A 33-year-old Martin County man has been arrested for the deaths of his pregnant wife and their unborn child.

The Sheriff’s office issued an arrest warrant for Alex Matthew Rupp for the 2020 deaths.

According to the report, authorities were called to the 4700 block of Southeast Bollard Avenue near Stuart around 2:15 a.m.  in regards to a shooting.

Rupp told investigators that he went to bed around 10:30 p.m. with his wife 32-year-old Nicole Rupp laying next to him.

At some point during the night, Rupp woke up and noticed a light shinning into the bedroom for a door that had been opened.

He then grabbed his Glock 23 handgun. Rupp continued to look through the door he then saw a shadow pass by the microwave light in the kitchen and came to believe the person was a criminal.

Once the shadow opened the door to the bedroom Rupp fired his weapon.

When he turned on the bedroom light, he realized he shot his wife in the forehead.

“He said he did not know the figure in the residence was his wife until after he fired,” the arrest report stated. “He said he had believed his wife was in their bed prior to firing at the figure.”

Rupp said he went into panic mode and attempted to provide aid to her before calling authorities.

The wife was taken to an area hospital where she later died. Their unborn child was delivered via C-section, however, the child died a week later.

The Martin County Sheriff’s office issued a warrant for Rupp’s arrest after an investigation found that Rupp was negligent:

“Alex Rupp exhibited culpable negligence when he fired his firearm at a person inside his residence, which was occupied by two other family members, without identifying the person.”

The sheriff’s office added that “the suspect shot at this non-threatening figure that he could not identify as the figure attempted to enter the room, without taking any steps to verify the location of his wife.”

He is now facing manslaughter charges and is being held on $100,000 bond.