Report: Alabama woman charged after getting shot, losing unborn baby while shooter goes free

Marshae Jones, 27, was indicted on manslaughter charges Wednesday after her unborn baby was killed in a shooting. (Jefferson County Jail)

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Ala. – An Alabama woman whose unborn baby was killed in a December 2018 shooting was charged in the death while the shooter went free, according to news reports.

Marshae Jones, 27, was indicted by a grand jury on manslaughter charges and taken into custody Wednesday, reports AL.com.

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Authorities said that while Jones did not fire the shots that killed her unborn baby, she initiated the dispute that led to the gunfire.

Jones was five months pregnant when the shooting occurred on December 4, 2018 outside a dollar store, investigators said. Officers reportedly arrived on the scene and found Jones suffering from a gunshot wound to the stomach. She was taken to a hospital, but her unborn baby did not survive, according to officials.

Ebony Jemison, 23, was initially charged in the shooting, but the charge was dismissed after a grand jury failed to indict her, reports AL.com.

Investigators said the shooting stemmed from a fight between Jones and Jemison over the unborn baby's father.

“The investigation showed that the only true victim in this was the unborn baby,’’ Pleasant Grove Police Lt. Danny Reid said at the time of the shooting. “It was the mother of the child who initiated and continued the fight which resulted in the death of her own unborn baby.”

Jones will be transferred to the Jefferson County Jail where she will be held on $50,000 bond.

The Yellowhammer Fund, which provides financial assistance to those seeking abortion care in Alabama, released a statement to AL.com Wednesday night:

The state of Alabama has proven yet again that the moment a person becomes pregnant their sole responsibility is to produce a live, healthy baby and that it considers any action a pregnant person takes that might impede in that live birth to be a criminal act.

 

Today, Marshae Jones is being charged with manslaughter for being pregnant and getting shot while engaging in an altercation with a person who had a gun. Tomorrow, it will be another black woman, maybe for having a drink while pregnant. And after that, another, for not obtaining adequate prenatal care.

We commit ourselves to making sure that Marshae is released from jail on bond, assisting with her legal representation, and working to ensure that she gets justice for the multiple attacks that she has endured.


About the Author:

Brian is an Associate Producer for ClickOnDetroit. He graduated from the University of Michigan-Dearborn with a degree in Journalism and Screen Studies.