News

Woman indicted for manslaughter after miscarrying when shot

by Zack Budryk - 06/26/19 8:19 PM ET

An Alabama woman was indicted for manslaughter after she was shot and her unborn child died because a grand jury said she initiated the confrontation, according to AL.com.

Marshae Jones of Birmingham was five months pregnant when Ebony Jemison shot her in the stomach in December 2018. Jemison was charged with manslaughter by police, but the grand jury did not indict her, leading to the dismissal of the charges, AL.com reported.

{mosads}Pleasant Grove Police Lt. Danny Reid argued Jemison had merely defended herself after Jones initiated the fight.

“Let’s not lose sight that the unborn baby is the victim here,’’ he said, according to the publication. “She had no choice in being brought unnecessarily into a fight where she was relying on her mother for protection.”

The indictment comes shortly after a restrictive anti-abortion law passed in Alabama put a national spotlight on the state, although Jones was not charged under the law, which does not take effect until November.

Shaunna Thomas, co-founder and executive director of women’s rights advocacy group Ultraviolet, called the charges “part of a larger pattern of how our criminal justice system permits and furthers violence and abuse against Black women.”

“Instead of treating Marshae Jones with compassion after being shot and losing her pregnancy, Alabama has decided to further her trauma and the injustice she has already experienced by charging her, not the person who shot her, with a crime,” Thomas said in a statement. “Pleasant Grove police Lt. Danny Reid even went so far as to say that the ONLY victim of the shooting was Jones’ unborn baby.”