On the night of July 13, 2026, 18-year-old Jael JaeJae Torres was shot and killed at an apartment building on Washington Avenue in Clairton, Pennsylvania. Torres, who had just graduated from McKeesport High School and was eight months pregnant with a daughter she planned to name Jae’lani, did not survive. Her unborn child also died from injuries sustained in the attack. A man who was with Torres was wounded but survived.

Authorities say a cellphone recovered after the shooting yielded evidence linked to a separate July 12 shooting in Duquesne; the wounded man, identified as 21-year-old Calid Pettiford, was later charged in that separate case. Two days after Torres was killed, her boyfriend, Jamil Webb-Beasley, was fatally shot at a playground in Homestead; investigators have not publicly stated whether the two killings are connected. As of early August 2026, no arrests had been announced in the murders of Jael Torres and her unborn daughter and the investigation remains active.

Torres was remembered by family as joyful, loving to laugh and dance, and as an older sister to five younger siblings. If anyone has information that could help investigators, please come forward.