Alabama v. Jones: Charged with Manslaughter for Being Shot While Pregnant
It happened to 27-year-old Alabaman Marshae Jones, and under US Republicans’ draconian treatment of women in miscarriage cases, it will happen again. On December 4th, 2018, Jones and 23-year-old Ebony Jemison fought in the parking lot of a Dollar General in Pleasant Grove. Though Jones was unarmed, Jemison shot her in the stomach and hospitalized her. Her surgery at UAB Hospital could not save her five-month-old fetus.
On the day of Jones’ shooting, Pleasant Grove Police Department detained and jailed Jemison. Two days later, they issued a manslaughter warrant for her, but on April 18th, 2019, a Jefferson County grand jury convened to review the evidence—and Jones, not Jemison, was indicted and held on $50,000 bond for the loss of her own wanted fetus. She faced up to 20 years in prison.
How did they justify this? According to KNX News, in Pleasant Grove PD Lt. Danny Reid’s point of view, “The only true victim in this was the unborn baby. It was the mother of the child who initiated and continued the fight which resulted in the death of her own unborn baby.” Jones’ own devastating wound, her unarmed status, even Jemison’s advantageous position inside a vehicle when she shot Jones in claimed self-defense were considered moot. And the unsealed indictment agreed, claiming Jones “intentionally caused the death of .... unborn baby Jones by initiating a fight knowing she was five months pregnant."
Even under Alabama’s extremely restrictive Human Life Protection Act, a law passed in May 2019 but blocked by federal judge the following November, Jones should not have been charged: Alabama Local News reports that an abortion would include the “use or prescription of any instrument, medicine, drug or any other substance or device with the intent to terminate the pregnancy of a woman known to be pregnant with knowledge that the termination by those means will with reasonable likelihood cause the death of the unborn child.” Only Jemison’s weapon was this instrument. Laurie Bertram Roberts, executive director of the Mississippi Reproductive Freedom Fund, which is part of a national financial aid network for pregnant people seeking abortion access, makes further disturbing connections to the case. As Roberts suggests on Rolling Stone, if Jones could be blamed for unwittingly exposing herself to the possibility of being shot, could too much exercise or medication use during pregnancy be criminalized? An alcoholic drink, a fall down the stairs, or a car accident could be considered tools for murder.
The Mayo Clinic reports that over 10 to 20 percent of known pregnancies result in miscarriage, or ‘spontaneous abortion,’ before the 20th week, which doesn’t account for the vast number of miscarriages that can occur before carriers are even aware of their pregnancy. Investigating all miscarriages and stillbirths as potential murders would seem unthinkable, but according to the BBC, 1600 such legal cases occurred between 1973 and 2020—a disproportionate number of them targeting women of color, like Marshae Jones. Prosecuting miscarriages, combined with the Supreme Court’s recent unprecedented draft to overturn Roe v. Wade’s constitutional right to abortion, presents a devastating setback for the rights of the pregnant.
With national outrage and the support of activists behind her, such as the Yellowhammer Fund and Naral Pro-Choice America, Jones’ legal nightmare came to a close on July 3rd, 2019. ABC News confirmed that District Attorney Lynniece Washington had moved to drop the charge of manslaughter. Jones’ attorneys had requested this ruling two days previously, citing the “flawed and twisted rationale” of the case that blamed Jones for her miscarriage. All parties could agree on the tragedy of the case, but Washington recognized the damage could not be undone. Invented liability would not have instituted justice.
Marshae’s unborn daughter had already been named Marlaysia, and her ashes rest on the mantle of Marshae’s grandmother Patrice Jones, stated Alabama Local News. Marshae Jones, the mother of a six year old, narrowly avoided decades in prison for the loss of her wanted child. Some women, like Brittney Poolaw, sentenced in October 2020 to four years for her miscarriage, have been less lucky. As Roe v. Wade hangs in the balance, the scales could tip even more severely to the pregnant population’s detriment. You might never believe you could be imprisoned for a medical complication—until it happens to you.
