Pregnant woman who was put on life support after KC-area mall shooting has died

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (AP) — A pregnant woman who was shot in the head during a shooting at a Missouri mall last week has died, police confirmed Thursday.

The woman had been on life support after being shot in the temple Friday at Independence Center, according to a report by police in the Kansas City suburb of Independence. Police said she was four months pregnant.

Independence police have not released the victim’s name or age yet. A family friend gathering money to help pay for cremation costs identified her as 19-year-old Karla Brown in an interview with the Kansas City Star.

Two others were shot in the leg when gunfire broke out, and the suspected shooter was shot in the back, Independence police said.

A 21-year-old Independence resident has been charged with armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon in the mall shooting. Independence police Officer Kelley Rupert in an email said those charges will be updated following the woman’s death.

The defendant is in jail on a $250,000 cash only bond. He has a bond hearing scheduled for Tuesday. A public defender has not yet been assigned to him.

Witnesses told police that the pregnant woman was with friends at the mall when they ran into the suspected shooter and several of his friends. One of Brown’s friends previously was in a relationship with the shooter’s current partner, which led to an argument and the shooting, according to the probable cause statement.