A pregnant Philadelphia woman was fatally shot after returning home from her own baby shower on Saturday night in what appears to be a targeted hit, police said.
The 32-year-old woman was shot multiple times in the head and stomach at about 8:30 p.m. as she unloaded gifts from the shower outside her home on Palmetto Street in the city’s Lawncrest neighborhood, ABC 6 reported.
Authorities have not yet named the victim although neighbors have identified her as Jessica Covington, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
A police officer in the vicinity heard gunfire and rushed to the scene. The woman, who was seven months pregnant, was found with gunshot wounds and taken to Einstein Medical Center, where both she and her unborn child were pronounced dead.
No arrests have been made in what police sources are describing as a targeted slaying that appears to be “domestic” in nature, CBS Philly reported.
“The person that did this couldn’t be more cowardly,” Deputy Police Commissioner Christine Coulter told ABC 6.
11 gun shell casings were found at the scene where the victim’s car was parked, its cabin light still on and its interior still full of gifts from the baby shower earlier that day, according to the Inquirer.
The city is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
Philadelphia is nearing 500 homicides for the year, the most on record for the city, CBS reported.
Neighbor Tom McDonald told ABC 6 that residents have had enough of the pepetual violence in the area.
“Enough is enough,” McDonald said. “It’s time for the city to do something – something.”