Pregnant woman killed when gun 'accidentally' goes off in vehicle

LAUREL, Md. — A pregnant woman was fatally shot when a gun went off in the back seat of the vehicle she was traveling in, Anne Arundel County police said. Officers called to Laurel Fort Meade Road in Laurel on Wednesday night for a report of a shooting found a woman lying near a vehicle that had crashed in the median.

The woman, identified as 33-year-old Latisha Adams of Laurel, was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead, police said in a press release. Adams was about five months pregnant and her child did not survive. An autopsy will determine the exact cause and manner of death, police said.

Ronald Smith, 48, was sitting in the back seat when the gun went off and a round went through the front passenger seat and struck Adams, police said. Smith said it was an accident and that he and Adams’ boyfriend, who was driving, were trying to get Adams help when the vehicle ran into the median, police said.

Smith is charged with manslaughter, first-degree assault, reckless endangerment and several weapons offenses, police said. He is being held without bond. Police call their investigation “active and fluid” and urge anyone with information to come forward.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/police-pregnant-woman-killed-when-gun-goes-off-in-vehicle/2021/05/20/c83a94c4-b9b1-11eb-bc4a-62849cf6cca9_story.html