A road rage shooting fatally wounded a pregnant teenager in Louisiana, authorities said, prompting surgeons to deliver her baby as she was on life support.
Katelynn Strate, 17, was a passenger in an S.U.V. when she was struck in the head by a bullet fired by a driver in a truck early on Sunday, about 50 miles north of New Orleans, the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office said. She was seven months pregnant.
Ms. Strate was taken to a hospital and placed on life support, where she remained for three days. Late Tuesday, the sheriff’s office said that she had died.
Her baby was delivered by emergency C-section and was “doing well” in a neonatal intensive care unit, the office said.
The authorities detained Barry West, 54, of Tickfaw, La., and charged him with one count of second-degree murder, three counts of attempted second-degree murder, illegal use of a weapon and obstruction of justice.
As of Wednesday he was being held in the Tangipahoa Parish Jail. It was not clear whether he was being represented by a lawyer.
Sheriff Gerald Sticker said that Mr. West was driving a silver Dodge truck in Ponchatoula at about 9 a.m. on Sunday. He said that Mr. West and the driver of the Ford Expedition S.U.V. carrying Ms. Strate were tailgating each other.
He said that both vehicles were also “brake-checking,” which is when a driver intentionally and abruptly applies their brakes, often leading to rear-end collisions. The driver of the S.U.V. was not named.
The police said that Mr. West shot one round into the S.U.V. when it was in front of his truck, saying he believed its occupants had shot at him first. But officers said that an investigation showed no shots were fired from the S.U.V., and that they found no weapon inside.
When the S.U.V. driver realized that Ms. Strate had been shot in the head, they called 911 and drove her directly to the hospital. The car was carrying a second passenger, who was not identified.
Ms. Strate’s baby, a girl, was delivered in an emergency procedure and remained in the hospital late on Tuesday, the authorities said. Ms. Strate’s family decided to take her off life support and to donate her organs.
“This is a senseless tragedy on Sunday morning with no logical reason for this family to be experiencing this heartbreak right now,” Sheriff Sticker said.
Nearly $30,000 has been raised on a GoFundMe page for the child’s care and to help pay for Ms. Strate’s funeral. The fund-raising page says that Ms. Strate’s grandmother will raise the child.
Of the baby, a family friend told WVUE in New Orleans: “She is not even on a ventilator. She is extremely strong and kicking.”
Adeel Hassan, a New York-based reporter for The Times, covers breaking news and other topics.
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