Global Courant 2023-04-19 02:16:26
A pregnant woman was fatally shot after a group of teenagers allegedly shot at her car in an apparent case of mistaken identity, police said.
Kerisha Johnson, 36, was shot Sunday morning while trying to pick up people from a party in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, police said.
Johnson, who was nine months pregnant and was “due to give birth in a matter of days,” was found dead in her car by officers responding to reports of shots fired, according to an arrest warrant.
On April 17, 2023, a stuffed animal and balloon will be left as a memorial to Kenisha Johnson in Baton Rouge, La.
WBRZ
During their investigation, the police discovered that the event was promoted as an Easter party, attended mainly by teenagers.
Detectives learned that Johnson was driving to the party when “several individuals” began firing at her white sedan — believing she was someone who, in a similar car, had previously fired into the air near the party, according to the warrant.
Johnson tried to flee but was hit by gunfire, killing her and her unborn child, according to the warrant.
“It was just pointless,” Deanna Williams, a childhood friend of Johnson, told ABC affiliate Baton Rouge WBRZ. “She was an innocent person.”
The alleged gunmen were captured on video footage “raising firearms, pointing them at the victim’s vehicle and then shooting,” before fleeing the scene, according to the warrant.
Baton Rouge police arrested three teens in connection with the shooting. Marques Porch, Gregory Parker and Derrick Curry, all 19, were charged with manslaughter and first-degree murder, according to Baton Rouge police.
The booking photos of Derrick Curry, Gregory Parker and Marques Porch are shown.
The Baton Rouge Police Department
According to the warrant, they allegedly told detectives they were armed at the time of the shooting.
“They all stated that they believed the white car was a vehicle from earlier in the evening in which (an) occupant had fired a bullet into the air as it drove past the teen party,” the warrant said.
Porch allegedly told authorities he provided the firearms to the other two teens before the shooting, according to the warrant. He was shot but suffered non-life-threatening injuries as he fled, police said.
The three suspects were held without bail during a court hearing on Monday, East Baton Rouge Parish Courthouse officials confirmed to ABC News. They are being held at East Baton Rouge Parish Prison, according to online prison records.
Porch was a corrections officer with the West Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office until his arrest. According to a sheriff’s spokesperson, he served as a corrections officer from June to November 2022, before returning as a part-time employee as a transportation driver in February. He was “dismissed with immediate effect” on Sunday after notification of his arrest, the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
