Kerisha Johnson: Pregnant Louisiana woman due to give birth soon dies after 3 teenagers fatally shoot her in a tragic case of mistaken identity
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA: A nine months pregnant Louisiana woman was allegedly shot and killed along with her unborn child when three teenagers opened fire on her car in a tragic case of mistaken identity. Kerisha Johnson, 36, who was "due to give birth within several days," was found dead after being shot on Sunday morning, April 16, while trying to pick up partygoers at a “teen party” in Baton Rouge, as per an arrest warrant.
Police arrested Marques Porch, Gregory Parker, and Derrick Curry in connection with the shooting. They are currently being held at the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on charges of second-degree murder and first-degree feticide. It is unclear if any of the 19-year-olds have submitted pleas or hired attorneys. Detailing the incident, police said that Johnson was driving to the party when “several individuals” shot at her white sedan. In her attempt to flee the scene, Johnson was fatally struck in the barrage, according to ABC News. The warrant stated that the shooters mistook Johnson's car for someone else's. A similar car had apparently fired shots in the air as they drove by the party in the night.
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'She didn't deserve this'
"It was just senseless. It was senseless," Deanna Williams, Johnson’s childhood friend told local Baton Rouge ABC affiliate WBRZ. "Just to know she lost her life [for] nothing. She was an innocent person." Williams described Johnson as "the goofiest friend" and "a very sweet person." She added, "She would give you the shirt off her back. She was just that sweet." In a local community Facebook group post, Crissina Finister, a friend, and classmate of Johnson's revealed that Johnson had two other children who no longer have their mother. "She didn't deserve this," Finister further wrote. "Kerisha was the nicest, sweetest person you could ever meet."
Three teens are caught on camera
The three teens were caught on camera “raising firearms, pointing them at the victim’s vehicle and then firing” before fleeing the scene, the warrant read, as per ABC. They admitted that they were armed during the shooting and "all stated that they believed the white car was a vehicle from earlier in the night where [an] occupant had fired a round into the air as it drove past the teen party."