Pregnant Woman and Unborn Child Killed in Georgia Highway Shooting
A mother and her unborn child both died following a shooting Tuesday on a Georgia highway, according to police.
Police identified the victim as Akeila Ware, 29, from LaGrange, Georgia, who died shortly after she arrived at the hospital.
Doctors then discovered that she was pregnant and found that the unborn child had also died following the shooting.
Troup County Sheriff's Office (TCSO) officers have launched a homicide investigation following the shooting on Highway 18.
According to a statement on the TCSO Facebook page, police and emergency services raced to the highway, near E. Drummond Road at 12:49 p.m. following reports of an accident and that there were possible injuries.
The statement, seen by Newsweek, continued: "When deputies arrived on scene they found a 4 door passenger car with an adult female driver unresponsive and noticed what appeared to be multiple bullet holes in the side of the car.
"Once the victim was extricated from the vehicle she was transported to a Columbus area hospital in critical condition.
It continued: "From evidence gathered on the scene by Sheriff's Office investigators and Troopers with the Georgia State Patrol, it appears a second vehicle was involved in the crime and the shooting possibly occurred near the intersection of Highway 18 and Whitesville Road."
The TCSO added the second vehicle that was involved in the incident is "believed to be a silver Nissan car" that had been left with possible front-end damage.
The TCSO did not comment on whether anyone had been arrested in connection with the incident.
While the TCSO has launched a homicide investigation, the Georgia State Patrol will look into the crash.
People with any information about the incident are asked to call the TCSO Criminal Investigation Division at 706-883-1616 or Crime Stoppers at 70-812-1000.
Newsweek has contacted the TCSO and Georgia State Patrol for comment.
The shooting comes almost a month after a pregnant woman was fatally gunned down after attending her own baby shower in New York state.
Shanice Young, 31, had reportedly been attempting to break up a fight between two men outside her building in Harlem, Manhattan, which then led to her being fatally shot.
The fight Young had attempted to break up is understood to have been between her current partner and her ex, according to sources who spoke to WPIX.
Young had been pregnant with her fifth child. It is understood that she was eight months pregnant at the time of her death.
