3 men charged with murder, feticide after pregnant teen is killed in Columbus
Three arrests have been made in the death of pregnant 17-year-old Keiauna McFadden, the Columbus Police Department announced Friday.
McFadden was shot July 27 in the 2600 block of Juniper Avenue, Columbus police said previously. She was flown to an Atlanta hospital and died days later, according to police and the Muscogee County Coroner’s Office. Her baby did not survive.
Months later, three suspects were detained Thursday in McFadden’s death: 21-year-old Javon Seals, 18-year-old Deandre Scranton and 21-year-old Landon Owens. Seals and Scranton were arrested in Columbus, police said, while Owens was taken into custody in Troup County. He was extradited to Columbus on Friday.
All three men are charged with murder, four counts of aggravated assault, feticide, drive-by shooting and possessing a gun during the commission of a crime, police said in a news release. Scranton also was charged with vehicle theft.
The three suspects were scheduled to make their initial court appearances Monday afternoon, police said.
‘She had no chance of survival’
McFadden was one of two teenagers shot during the incident on Juniper Avenue, police said previously. An 18-year-old woman was shot multiple times, but was treated and determined to be in stable condition shortly after the shooting.
In a GoFundMe page started to raise money for the funeral and burial expenses of McFadden and her baby, McFadden’s mother said the teenager had been shot in the back of the head.
“Doctors said she had no chance of survival. Keiauna was nearly five months pregnant with my grandson, Za’Mauri Kasai McFadden, and they quickly airlifted her to Grady Hospital in Atlanta in an effort to save his life,” Tinisha Hood wrote in her GoFundMe page.
The child was stillborn, Hood said on the GoFundMe page.
“In less than a week, I lost my daughter and grandson, both ripped from this world far too soon by a senseless act of gun violence,” Hood wrote. “My heart is shattered.”
The GoFundMe, which was still active Friday, had raised $6,630. It had a goal of $7,000.