Baby delivered after pregnant woman fatally shot in Chicago

Jessica D'Onofrio Image
Monday, September 19, 2016
Baby saved after pregnant woman killed in shooting
Doctors have saved a baby after a pregnant woman was shot and killed Sunday evening.

CHICAGO -- Doctors saved a baby after a pregnant woman was shot and killed Sunday evening in the city's South Chicago neighborhood.

Family identified the woman as 19-year-old Parasha Beard. She was 8 months pregnant. Beard also has a 4-year-old daughter.

Beard was sitting in a car parked in the 8700-block of South Marquette Avenue around 6 p.m. when police said another vehicle pulled up alongside her and someone inside opened fire.

She was shot in the neck. A 26-year-old man who was in the car with Beard was shot in the neck and chest. The Chicago Fire Department said he is in critical condition.

Beard was rushed to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where she died and the baby was delivered. Family members said the baby was named "Miracle" and is doing well.

"She was a good outgoing person. She always got her goals set for herself. She was a beautiful girl, just like everybody else's kids," said Crystal Jones, the victim's mother.

"These people need to be apprehended. You made a bad choice. It's on you. May the chips fall where they lay," said Andrew Holmes, a community activist.

No one is in custody. But Holmes said police may have some surveillance footage to examine.

Police said the 26-year-old man wounded in the shooting is a documented gang member.