Pregnant Alabama Gunshot Victim Charged With Manslaughter But Shooter Goes Free

An Alabama woman who lost her unborn baby when she was shot in the stomach was indicted on manslaughter charges after the woman who shot her went free.

Marshae Jones, 27, was indicted by a Jefferson County grand jury Wednesday on one charge of manslaughter, AL.com reported. The same grand jury failed to indict Ebony Jemison, the woman who had been charged with manslaughter for shooting Jones.

Police said the shooting occurred during a dispute over the unborn baby’s father. Police said that Jones initiated the dispute.

Jones was hospitalized after being shot and her fetus did not survive. She was five months pregnant at the time of the December 2018 shooting.

Police say ‘only victim is unborn child’:

Despite being shot, hospitalized, and losing her unborn child, police said that Jones was not a “victim.”

“All indications and all evidence point to the fact of the victim or the other of the unborn child was the aggressor, she is no longer listed as the victim, the only victim we have here is that unborn child,” Pleasant Grove Police Lt. Danny Reid told WIAT.

“When a 5-month pregnant woman initiates a fight and attacks another person, I believe some responsibility lies with her as to any injury to her unborn child,” he told AL.com. “That child is dependent on its mother to try to keep it from harm, and she shouldn’t seek out unnecessary physical altercations.”

Women’s group vows to help Jones:

The Yellowhammer Fund, a group that helps women get abortion services, issued a statement vowing to help Jones fight the case.

“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,’’ Executive Director Amanda Reyes said in a statement.

“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,” the statement said, adding that the group will assist her with her $50,000 bond and help her get “justice for the multiple attacks that she has endured.”

 

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