A newborn baby is in critical condition after being delivered shortly before his due date after his mother was allegedly shot and killed by an Amazon worker in Minnesota, according to authorities and family members.
The boy, whose name has not been released by police, is “fighting for his life” after the shooting on Jan. 8 that left his mom, 31-year-old Kyla O’Neal, dead, loved ones wrote on a GoFundMe. According to the fundraiser, O’Neal was nine months pregnant at the time of her killing.
The mother was found suffering from a gunshot wound inside a vehicle in the parking lot of an Amazon fulfillment center in Lakeville just before 7 p.m. local time, according to a press release from the Lakeville Police Department.
She was rushed to a local hospital, but later died, authorities said. Doctors were able to deliver her baby, whose condition was not disclosed by police.
The woman’s mother, Katina O’Neal, said her grandson “lost a lot of oxygen to the brain, so he has no brain functioning right now,” adding how she “needs him to pull through this.”
Kyla O’Neal also leaves behind three other children, ages 10, 7, and 2, according to the GoFundMe, which was set up to help support her kids and funeral expenses.
Authorities quickly identified the alleged gunman as 32-year-old Donte Raphael McCray, who is an employee at the Amazon facility.
According to the fundraiser, the man accused of fatally shooting Kyla O’Neal is said to be the father of the newborn baby. She also apparently ended her relationship with him shortly before her death, the news outlet reports, citing her mom.
“She didn’t deserve what happened to her,” Katina O’Neal said, per CBS News. “She had a promising future.”
McCray is being held at the Dakota County Jail on a charge of second-degree manslaughter, the department said.
According to a criminal record obtained by KKTV, McCray was ordered by a judge last year not to possess any firearms due to a criminal conviction.
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