Indiana mom of 3-year-old shot dead in front of fiance after telling BLM supporters that 'All Lives Matter'
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA: A 24-year-old mother from Indiana was shot dead in front of her fiance on July 5 after she told a group of Black Lives Matters supporters that "all lives matter," according to reports. The woman, identified as Jessica Doty Whitaker, was reportedly walking with her fiance, Jose Ramirez, over the Fourth of July weekend with two other people near the Indianapolis Canal Walk when the incident occurred.
According to Ramirez, they were heading out when one of them used a slang version of the N-word. A group of people near them, comprising of four men and a woman, heard them and objected to hearing the phrase. This led to a confrontation between the groups, and one of the offended individuals reportedly shouted 'Black Lives Matter', to which either Whitaker or someone else responded with 'All Lives Matter,' according to Fox59. The victim's father, Robert Doty, confirmed that his daughter had said "all lives matter" during the confrontation, which led to both groups pointing guns at each other. The groups, however, eventually talked through their issues and walked away from each other after fist bumps.
"It was squashed and they went up the hill and left we thought, but they were sitting on St. Clair waiting for us to come under the bridge and that's when she got shot," Ramirez said, adding that a suspect began shooting from a nearby bridge and fled the scene. Ramirez, while talking to WTHR, said that he had his arms around Whitaker when she was shot.
"I was actually holding her when it happened. She just fell," he said. Ramirez also admitted that he fired back at the suspects, adding that it was "just a reaction." "I didn't see nobody. I didn't hopefully I didn't hit nobody," he said. The 24-year-old was rushed to a hospital where she succumbed to her injuries.
The victim's mother, Arlena Doty, also spoke about her grief saying: "I'm never going to get to hold her again. I just want the people who are responsible to be held accountable." Whitaker was reportedly a home health nurse and had planned to attend school in August this year. She and Ramirez were set to get married next year. The pair share a three-year-old boy named Greyson.
An emotional Ramirez, while speaking to Fox 59, said that he wants justice for what was done to Whitaker: "Just justice. For us, mostly for him. He's got a mom he probably won't even remember when he gets older. She shouldn't have lost her life. She's got a 3-year-old son she loved dearly, It's hard to tell him his mom is in heaven and if you want to talk to her you have to look up and say, 'I love you mom.' We're going through a lot. The 3-year-old boy doesn't even understand really."
Whittaker is among the three people who died along the canal, and one of several others who died because of gun violence over the Fourth of July weekend. Amidst call from residents to make the area safer, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Capt. Jerry Leary, released a statement, saying: "Our message is that the canal is still a safe place to go."