Update 07/04/2019 10:27pm:

It has been reported that 27-year-old Marshae Jones of Birmingham, Alabama, will not be prosecuted by the state after she was indicted by a grand jury after losing her baby in a shooting that prosecutors say she provoked. 

Jefferson County district attorney Lynneice Washington announced the dismissal in a statement, which read, "I am hearby dismissing this case and no further legal action will be taken against Ms. Jones in this matter. There are no winners, only losers in this sad ordeal. This is truly a disturbing and heartbreaking case. An unborn child was tragically lost and families on both sides of this matter have suffered. Nothing, nothing, nothing we do today or in the future will change that reality."

Ebony Jemison, 23, was originally charged with murder and attempted murder for shooting Jones, but the charges were dismissed and Jones was indicted on a manslaughter charge. 

Source: CNN


Original 06/27/2019 7:40pm:

An Alabama woman who lost her unborn baby after being shot in 2018 was indicted on manslaughter charges after authorities say she initiated the dispute that led to the incident. 23-year-old Ebony Jemison was originally charged with manslaughter, but a grand jury failed to indict her on the charges.

27-year-old Marshae Jones of Birmingham was shot in the stomach by Jemison when she was five months pregnant. The fight stemmed over the unborn baby's father and Pleasant Grove police Lt. Danny Reid said that Jones pressed the fight and Jemison was left to defend herself. 

Reid added, "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. Let’s not lose sight that the unborn baby is the victim here. She had no choice in being brought unnecessarily into a fight where she was relying on her mother for protection." 

Jones is being held on $50,000 bond and her indictment outraged many women's rights activists. The Yellowhammer Fund, a member of the National Network of Abortion Funds which helps women access abortion services, released a statement on the situation. 

"The state of Alabama has proven yet again that the moment a person becomes pregnant their sole responsibility is to produce a live, healthy baby and that it considers any action a pregnant person takes that might impede in that live birth to be a criminal act." 

"Today, Marshae Jones is being charged with manslaughter for being pregnant and getting shot while engaging in an altercation with a person who had a gun. Tomorrow, it will be another black woman, maybe for having a drink while pregnant. And after that, another, for not obtaining adequate prenatal care. We commit ourselves to making sure that Marshae is released from jail on bond, assisting with her legal representation, and working to ensure that she gets justice for the multiple attacks that she has endured." 

Source: AL.com