Justina Wallace was holding her toddler when she was shot in July 2023
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A pregnant Alabama mother has been sentenced for the 2023 killing of another pregnant woman.
Aaniyah Nowden shot 36-year-old Justina Wallace on July 7, 2023 in Birmingham, Ala., the Birmingham Police Department said at the time.
Nowden was convicted of capital murder and sentenced in a Jefferson County, Ala., court last week, according to AL.com and WBRC.
Wallace’s unborn baby did not survive.
According to AL.com, Nowden was pregnant when she murdered Wallace, who was also pregnant at the time of the shooting.
Nowden was pregnant with the child of a man who is the father of Wallace’s toddler, who Wallace was holding when she was shot, the outlet reported.
On the day of the killing, the jury heard, Wallace had gone to Nowden’s home, and got into an argument with Nowden and the father involved, per AL.com. Nowden shot Wallace in what she told the court was an act of self-defense.
In addition to the toddler, two of Wallace’s five children were in the vicinity of the shooting at the time.
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The shooting was reportedly caught on cell phone video, AL.com reported.
“This defendant shot and killed a pregnant woman who was carrying nothing but her baby…in her arms,” Deputy District Attorney Jason Wilson said, according to the outlet. “Justina had no weapon, no gun, she wasn’t attacking anybody.”
Nowden was initially charged with three counts of capital murder, and the jury dismissed two of the charges, AL.com reported.
Nowden has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, according to AL.com and WBRC.