A pregnant woman whose baby died after she was shot in the stomach has been charged with manslaughter, according to reports.
Marshae Jones, from Albama, was five months pregnant when she was shot in the stomach by Ebony Jemison during an argument.
As reported by AL.com, Marshae was charged after a jury at Jefferson County found she was responsible for her death of her child because she started the brawl.
Initially, Jemison was charged with manslaughter, but a grand jury failed to indict her and the charge was dismissed. At the time of the incident, which took place in December last year, police alleged 23-year-old Jemison had shot Jones in self-defence.
Pleasant Grove police lieutenant Danny Reid said, as reported by AL.com:
The investigation showed that the only true victim in this was the unborn baby. It was the mother of the child who initiated and continued the fight which resulted in the death of her own unborn baby.
That child is dependent on its mother to try to keep it from harm and she shouldn’t seek out unnecessary physical altercations.
The ruling has faced global criticism, particularly in the UK, with Labour MP Jess Phillips branding it ‘unbelievable’, adding ‘these are the end times for women.’
27-year-old Jones was taken into custody on Wednesday and will be taken to Jefferson County jail where she is set to be held on a $50,000 bond.
This comes after Alabama passed a controversial bill implementing a near-total ban on abortions in the state, including those that are a byproduct of incest of rape. Under the new legislation, doctors face 10 years in prison if they attempt to terminate a pregnancy, or 99 years for actually carrying out the procedure.
Democrats and abortion-rights activists argue the new bill is incredibly dangerous, as it would drive those seeking abortions to have illegal and life-threatening procedures, carried out by non-professionals, thereby endangering the lives of countless women.
Other states to pass similar bills include Ohio, Mississippi, Kentucky, Iowa and Georgia, who have all voted on the ‘heartbeat bill’, which restricts women from having abortions after six weeks of their pregnancy.
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Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Journalist who started her career by producing The Royal Rosemurgey newspaper in 2004, which kept her family up to date with the goings on of her sleepy north east village. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining Tyla (formerly Pretty 52) in 2017, and progressing onto UNILAD in 2019.