Pregnant Woman, 19, Killed In South Side Shooting, Her Baby Survives
Updated 09/19/16 - 11:04 a.m.
(CBS) -- A pregnant 19-year-old woman was fatally shot, and the man she was with was critically wounded, in a drive-by shooting Sunday evening in the South Chicago neighborhood.
Parasha Beard was sitting in a car with a man in the 8700 block of South Marquette Avenue around 6 p.m. Sunday, when another vehicle drove up alongside them, and a suspect with dreadlocks opened fire, Chicago police said.
Beard was shot in the neck. She was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Her baby was delivered prematurely, and was transferred to a children's hospital, where she was in critical condition, according to her family.
The man who was with beard was shot in the neck and chest. He was at Northwestern in critical condition.
The baby has been named Miracle Parasha Beard Jones; Miracle because she's alive, and the rest in honor of her mother.
Beard's family said they're thankful the baby is alive, but devastated she will never know her mom.
"A lot is going through my mind. I have to be strong. I just want justice. That's all I ask, is that I have peace, that's it," said Beard's mother, Crystal Jones.
Beard's grandmother said it's amazing the baby survived at only six months in utero.
"It's a miracle," Sylvia Ann Jones-King said. "Hopefully she'll pull through; by the grace of God she'll pull through."
Beard also leaves behind a 4-year-old daughter. Her family said she worked at Portillo's in Skokie, and attended Excel Academy.
