A woman has been sentenced to life imprisonment for k!lling a pregnant mother of five in Alabama, U.S.
Aaniyah Nowden, who was also pregnant, shot 36-year-old Justina Wallace on July 7, 2023 in Birmingham, Alabama, the Birmingham Police Department said at the time.
According to AL.com, Nowden and Wallace, were both pregnant for the same man at the time of the shooting.
Nowden was convicted of capital m8rder and sentenced in a Jefferson County, Ala., court last week.
Wallace’s unborn baby did not survive.
Wallace was holding her toddler when she was shot.
On the day of the k!lling, the jury heard, Wallace had gone to Nowden’s home, and got into an argument with her and the father involved, per AL.com.
Nowden shot Wallace in what she told the court was an act of self-defense.
In addition to the toddler, two of Wallace’s five children were in the vicinity of the shooting at the time.
The shooting was reportedly caught on cell phone video, AL.com reported.
“This defendant shot and k!lled a pregnant woman who was carrying nothing but her baby…in her arms,” Deputy District Attorney Jason Wilson said, according to the outlet.
“Justina had no weapon, no gun, she wasn’t attacking anybody.”
Nowden was initially charged with three counts of capital m8rder, and the jury dismissed two of the charges.
Nowden has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
