Pregnant woman shot in the head, Georgia cops say. Baby’s dad is charged with murder
A pregnant woman was found shot in the head, and now the father of her baby is charged with murder, Georgia deputies said.
Shaniyah Monet Rodriguez, 20, was seven months pregnant and spending time with friends Feb. 2. But her mom said she grew surprised when her daughter didn’t come back home, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
“She was home every night, so the fact that she wasn’t was a shock to me,” mother Adrienne Rodriguez told the newspaper.
Her daughter was found unresponsive at an Atlanta-area condominium complex before she was rushed to a hospital and given a C-section. She died two days after the shooting, which her newborn survived, according to WANF.
Now, more than three weeks after the expectant mother’s death, a man has been arrested. Deputies in a Feb. 28 news release didn’t list attorney information for the man, identified as 22-year-old Diamonte Oiy’Shawn Haithcoats of Stone Mountain.
At the time of the shooting, officials said “Ms. Rodriguez was seven months pregnant with Mr. Haithcoats’ child and they lived together in the victim’s mother’s home.”
Ever since doctors delivered their baby, the girl has been struggling to stay alive. Family members told news outlets they’re holding onto hope for the newborn, named Millianni.
“Her entire brain is damaged,” Adrienne Rodriguez told WANF. “They did say this is how she’ll be her whole life if she was to survive.”
The shooting reportedly comes almost nine years after Shaniyah Rodriguez’s brother was shot and killed. Her mom, left with one surviving child, told WAGA she wants justice after there was an acquittal in her son’s case.
Haithcoats was arrested in Decatur after the woman was shot in Clarkston, roughly 10 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta. He was charged with malice murder, taken to the DeKalb County Jail and is “being held without bond” as of Feb. 28, deputies said.
The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office directed questions to the DeKalb County Police Department, which didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News’ requests for additional information Feb. 28.
This story was originally published February 28, 2023 at 3:03 PM.
