A Jane Doe who positioned herself on the fourth day Brooklyn Trial by R. Kelly alleged that the singer married Aaliyah in 1994 so she could have an abortion.
Aaliyah, who was then only 15, was too young to marry and too young to have an abortion (legally). In accordance with the anonymous witness, Kelly had gathered several of her friends one day, inviting them to ask her whatever they wanted. When one of them asked Kelly why she had married Aaliyah, Kelly explained that she needed legal permission as a minor to obtain the procedure and only the parents or spouses could grant it.
But to become his wife, Kelly — who was 27 at the time — had to first secure a false ID for Aaliyah, who proved she was 18. She and Kelly were married in a ceremony. Secret in a Chicago Hotel
Jane Doe’s account echoes witness of Kelly’s former tour manager, who spoke in court last week about how Kelly left a concert tour when Aaliyah told her she thought she was pregnant. Tour manager Demetrius Smith, who admitted to bribing a public official with $ 500 to make the false identification of Aaliyah, speculated that Kelly married the teenage R&B star to avoid jail.
It is unclear if Aaliyah was really pregnant and, if so, where she had the abortion that Kelly allegedly talked to her friends about. Although there were no parental notification laws in force in Illinois in 1994, there were in Michigan, where Aaliyah grew up: legislation approved in 1990 requires that anyone under the age of 18 have the written consent of a parent or legal guardian to obtain the procedure.
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The logic of Kelly’s story for her friends doesn’t quite match: if she married Aaliyah to be able to give written consent for her to have an abortion as a 15-year-old, that wouldn’t also raise the question of why a 15 – year she has a husband? Also: a spouse is not normally considered a “legal guardian” outside the confines of a conservative.
The story, however, is disturbing, another view of history coercive relationshipsp. What’s more, we will never know Aaliyah’s experience.
“It simply came to our notice then. It was wrong, “Smith told the court. “I shouldn’t talk about Aaliyah because she’s not here.”