27-year-old Marshae Jones was shot in the stomach after a heated argument with 23-year-old Ebony Jemison.
Jones lost her baby after the incident which occurred in December 2018. She was five months pregnant when she allegedly started a fight with Jemison who shot her in the abdominal area.
She has now been charged with manslaughter over the death of her unborn baby.
A jury in Birmingham has indicted her over the death of her child, saying that she started the fight that resulted in gunfire.
Officers initially charged Jemison with manslaughter. However, charges were dropped when the Jefferson County grand jury didn’t indict her after officers said the 23-year-old had only been acting in self-defence.
“The investigation showed that the only true victim in this was the unborn baby,” said Pleasant Grove Police lieutenant Danny Reid.
“It was the mother of the child who initiated and continued the fight which resulted in the death of her own unborn baby.”
Lieutenant Reid said that the fight started over the father of the unborn child.
“Let’s not lose sight that the unborn baby is the victim here,” he said. “She had no choice in being brought unnecessarily into a fight where she was relying on her mother for protection.”
Reid added that the unborn baby was “dependent on its mother to try and keep it from harm, and she shouldn’t seek out unnecessary physical altercations.”
The ruling has been condemned by people.
The executive director of the Yellowhammer Fund, Amanda Reyes, slammed the charge. She said in a statement: “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.”
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