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Mom, 8-Months Pregnant, Fatally Shot At Home In 'Unspeakable Tragedy' As Newborn Hospitalized In Critical Condition
Stacey Jones, a probation officer in Chicago, was shot twice in the back at her home, though doctors managed to save her son, who is now fighting for his life.
A newborn Chicago boy, whose mother was shot to death while he was still in her womb, is clinging to life after doctors performed an emergency delivery.
Stacey Jones, a 35-year-old probation officer, was shot twice in the back on the porch of her South Side home on the 2100 block of East 95th Place, early on Oct. 13, Chicago Police said in a statement.
Jones, who was eight-months pregnant at the time, was taken to hospital where she later died. However, doctors managed to save her son. The child is currently in critical condition at Comer Children’s Hospital, according to investigators.
No charges have been filed in Jones’ slaying. However, a Chicago police spokesperson confirmed to Oxygen.com that a person of interest was arrested, but has since been released. Police declined to release the name of the individual in question.
Authorities haven’t released a possible motive either, although detectives suspect the shooting was a targeted act.
A number of Jones’ neighbors heard several gunshots coming from the home the night she was killed.
“They weren’t quick shots, they were measured shots, and whoever did it wanted to do it,” Elliot Cobb told CBS News.
“When you hear gunshots, you don’t go to the window,” next-door neighbor Allen Jones, who isn't related to the victim, told the Chicago Sun-Times.
Jones said that the young mother had two children he often saw playing near her home. He said the family had lived there for about a year and a half. Other neighbors complained of several domestic disturbances originating from her residence, according to the Sun-Times.
The letters “KKK” reportedly were also found spray painted on the woman’s home, the Chicago Tribune reported, although it’s unclear when her home was first defaced with graffiti. Police said there is no apparent racial motive in the killing.
“At this time, based on information and additional evidence gathered by detectives, we do not believe this crime was racially motivated or a random act,” Chicago Police Department spokesperson Kellie Bartoli told Oxygen.com.
Police declined to release additional details about the ongoing murder investigation.
Jones' family, meanwhile, is mourning her sudden death.
"Her child— a boy — was saved, and we want to do everything we can to support him and my aunt who now has to take on my cousin's newborn and two older boys," her cousin, Daisy Johnson, wrote on GoFundMe page for the family. "This is an unspeakable tragedy."
Jones was a mother to three boys, according to the page.
“Our thoughts go out to her family, colleagues and friends at this difficult time,” Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans said in a memo to court employees, according to WLS-TV. "I just really hope that this case gives the justice that it deserves, because the world is missing a fantastic person."
"This is truly, like, tragedy; just waking up to hear this news that your coworker that you see every single day is gone," Nicholas Minor, friend and colleague, told the ABC affiliate.
Anyone with information related to Jones’ killing is urged to call Chicago Police Department detectives at 312-747-8271 or submit an anonymous tip anonymously at CPDTip.com.
