Charinez E Jefferson

Charinez E. Jefferson was a 17-year-old mother who, despite her youth, was devoted to her one-year-old son and excitedly anticipating the birth of her second child. Her family and friends remembered her as outgoing and a doting mother. Her cousin Terrisha Williams said that while Charinez had been a "wild child," she "changed for the good" after her first son was born, putting him first in her life. Charinez, an African-American female, was preparing to enter her junior year at Banner Therapeutic Day School on Chicago's South Side. Her mother, Debbie Jefferson, described her as a "great mom."

On the night of August 16, 2011, Charinez was walking home from a corner store with friends in Chicago's Marquette Park neighborhood. At about 10:35 p.m., in the 3000 block of West 64th Street, a man approached the group and opened fire. As the others scattered, Charinez, who was seven to eight months pregnant, became the sole target. A witness later recounted that Charinez begged for her life, telling the gunman, "I'm pregnant." The shooter, Timothy Jones, yelled an expletive at her and shot her at point-blank range in the head, then stood over her and fired several more times into her chest and back. She was struck multiple times, with wounds to her head, neck, chest, back, foot, ankle, thigh, and buttock.

Paramedics found Charinez in full cardiac arrest and rushed her to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn. She was pronounced dead shortly after 11 p.m. In a desperate effort to save her unborn child, doctors performed an emergency delivery. The baby boy was born alive, but he had been deprived of oxygen and was in critical condition, unable to breathe on his own. Family members named him Kahmani. His mother, Charinez, died immediately after he was born.

The Chicago Police Department investigated the homicide. Witnesses identified the shooter as 18-year-old Timothy Jones, a member of the Rockwell Boys gang. Prosecutors stated that Jones had intended to shoot a rival gang member who was walking with Charinez. When the intended target ran away uninjured, Jones turned his gun on Charinez. Jones was arrested at his home a few days later. At the time of the shooting, he was on probation for a 2010 burglary conviction and had a lengthy juvenile record.

In 2016, Timothy Jones, then 23, was convicted of first-degree murder and aggravated discharge of a firearm. He was sentenced to 90 years in prison. During the legal proceedings, Charinez's mother, Debbie Jefferson, was a constant presence, though she later passed away from cancer before Jones was sentenced. She had spoken of her pain, saying, "I can't answer why he shot her. If I had that answer, I'd probably feel much better."

A vigil was held at the scene of the shooting the day after Charinez was killed, where family and friends created a memorial. The story of her murder and her son's miraculous but tragic birth gained national attention. Kahmani survived but, as prosecutors noted in 2016, he remained "fully incapacitated" due to the circumstances of his premature birth. A hospital nurse eventually adopted the boy.

The case took another tragic turn nearly nine years later. On March 8, 2020, 8-year-old Kahmani Mims-Jefferson died. The Cook County Medical Examiner's office ruled his death a homicide, the result of "complications of prematurity" and "multiple maternal gunshot wounds." As of March 2020, Chicago Police were investigating his death, and it was unclear whether additional charges would be filed against Timothy Jones, who was four years into his 90-year sentence for Charinez's murder.