Pregnant Mom Of Two Is Fatally Shot Outside Mississippi Club; Police Describe Her As 'Innocent Bystander'

Authorities say a pregnant mom of two was an “innocent bystander” when she was shot in the head outside a Mississippi club early Sunday morning.

Jacqueline Brownlee identified the victim to WREG as her pregnant 30-year-old daughter Takila Gross, who had been enjoying “a little night out” with friends when the deadly gunfire erupted.

“She was always smiling,” Brownlee said. “She never met a stranger. People always just attached themselves to her.”

Marshall County Sheriff’s Major Kelly McMillen told Oxygen.com that several people had gotten into a physical altercation at a Marshall County nightclub before the shooting.

The suspect—who has been identified by authorities as 38-year-old Andre Norman—“received the worst end” of the fight and later allegedly confronted another individual involved in the assault outside the club.

“They exchanged words back and forth and the suspect at that point pulled out…a revolver and fired multiple shots toward this individual he had words with,” McMillen said. “He missed him and struck an innocent bystander.”

Gross—who McMillen said had “absolutely” no connection to the people involved in the fight—had been sitting in a car on her phone when she was struck in the head with a bullet.

She died at the scene. No one else was hurt by the gunfire. 

After the shooting, the suspect fled the scene on foot into a wooded area.

Later that morning, the sheriff’s office received multiple calls about the suspect resurfacing about 1.5 or 2 miles away from the crime scene and he was taken into custody.

While Norman was initially considered a “person of interest” in the case, McMillen said investigators were able to recover the revolver used in the shooting and enough information to secure a warrant against the 38-year-old. He is now facing first-degree murder charges.

Norman is currently being held on a $1 million bond, WREG reports. He’s scheduled to appear in court on May 2.