A nine months pregnant woman who was reportedly “due to give birth within several days” was fatally shot by a group of teenagers in what police said was a case of mistaken identity. The fatal Sunday incident occurred in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where the suspects opened fire on 36-year-old Kerisha Johnson’s car as she drove towards a party to pick up some attendees, ABC News reported.
An arrest warrant stated that the suspects who shot at Johnson’s car thought she was an individual who had initially fired a shot into the air while driving a similar vehicle around the area where the party was being held. It also stated that responding officers found the deceased woman in her car following the shooting.
Johnson was fatally struck as she tried to escape the gunfire; her unborn child also died, the warrant added. “It was just senseless,” Johnson’s friend, Deanna Williams, told WBRZ. “She was an innocent person.”
Video footage of the shooting showed the suspects “raising firearms, pointing them at the victim’s vehicle and then firing.” Though they subsequently fled the scene, three suspects were ultimately apprehended by Baton Rouge police.
The suspects, who are all 19, were identified as Marques Porch, Gregory Parker, and Derrick Curry; who have since been charged with second-degree murder and first-degree feticide, per ABC News.
The suspects allegedly informed detectives they were in possession of firearms when the shooting occurred. “They all stated that they believed the white car was a vehicle from earlier in the night where [an] occupant had fired a round into the air as it drove past the teen party,” the warrant stated, adding that Porch disclosed Parker and Curry were in possession of firearms he had given to them prior to the fatal incident.
Porch was said to be a part-time worker at the West Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office, but the sheriff’s office, in a statement, said his employment was “immediately terminated” on Sunday after they were informed about his arrest.
The three suspects are currently being held without bond.
