A woman in Alabama is facing manslaughter charges for allegedly initiating the altercation that led to her being shot in the stomach, killing her unborn daughter.
AL.com reported that Marshae Jones, 27, was taken into custody Wednesday after a Jefferson County grand jury handed down a criminal indictment. Pleasant Grove police lieutenant Danny Reid said Jones, who was five months pregnant at the time, was shot outside a Dollar General during an argument with another woman about her unborn child’s father.
While the woman accused of opening fire and killing the fetus, Ebony Jemison, 23, faced manslaughter charges for last year’s shooting, authorities dropped the charges after the jury opted not to indict her. Reid claimed Jemison shot Jones in self-defense.
The investigation showed that the only true victim in this was the unborn baby,’’ he said shortly after the shooting, according to the news outlet. “It was the mother of the child who initiated and continued the fight which resulted in the death of her own unborn baby.”
The National Conference of State Legislatures says 38 states, including Alabama, have fetal homicide laws. Alabama Code § 13A-6-1 deems a “person” also includes an “unborn child in utero at any stage of development, regardless of viability.”
AL.com reported that Jones remains jailed on $50,000 bond.
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[Featured image: Marshae Jones/Jefferson County Jail]
