KSHB 41 reporter La’Nita Brooks covers stories providing solutions and offering discussions on topics of crime and violence. Share your story idea with La’Nita.
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A Sugar Creek shooting has left an Independence couple grieving the loss of their unborn child while the mother recovers from her injuries.
Ally and Austin Marshall have been at North Kansas City Hospital for the past week and a half after what was supposed to be a celebratory day turned tragic on Saturday, Sept. 20.
The couple had just dropped off their twin daughters and were heading to a friend's birthday party when they became victims of a shooting while driving down Kentucky Road in Sugar Creek.
"We had dropped the girls off, and we were probably only like a mile or two from their grandpa's house," said husband Austin Marshall.
Austin Marshall initially thought the sounds were fireworks.
"Ally looked out the window and said, 'Are those real?'" Austin Marshall said. "And there was a guy with a gun. And when I looked, he had a gun and had shot his last bullet at us."
That last bullet struck Ally in her left hip, with the bullet fragmenting her bladder. Ally was pregnant with a baby boy, who didn't make it.
"At 6 a.m. that next day, he had a heartbeat, but then whenever they checked again around noon, he did not," Austin Marshall said.
Ally's mother, Joni Gentry, described the emotional toll it has had on the family.
"To see her the first time was really, really hard, but she was breathing, so she was alive," Gentry said.
The suspect was arrested the same day and faces multiple charges, including armed criminal action. While the family finds some peace in the arrest, they say it will never bring back the baby they lost.
"I'm just thankful she's here," Gentry said. "So, it's hard. Like Austin said, there's grief for the baby. There is 100%. That man took a life that day. He didn't take Ally's life, but he took that baby's life."
The family has a GoFundMe to help with medical expenses and their journey ahead.
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