NYPD Crime Scene Source: New York Daily News / Getty
On the heels of a shift in New York gun laws following a questionable Supreme Court ruling last week, a 20-year-old new mom was shot in the head at point-blank range while pushing her three-month-old in a stroller on the Upper East Side. Friday evening police announced an arrest in the killing of Azsia Johnson. According to ABC News, 22-year-old Issac Argro was arrested and charged with murder and criminal posession of a weapon. The outlet also reported that Johnson was an aspiring pediatrict nurse. She also had a 1-year-old child. It was suspected that Johnson had been staying at a nearby women’s shelter.
Possibly taking aim at the recent SCOTUS ruling authored by Clarence Thomas, Mayor Eric Adams tweeted that making guns more accessible would have devastating consequences.
“We lost a 20 year old woman on the Upper East Side tonight,” he tweeted. “She was pushing a stroller when a gunman took her life. More guns in our city means more lives lost. It means more babies crying as those who love them lie dead. We cannot allow this epidemic to keep claiming lives.”
NYPD was looking into whether there’s a connection between the mother and her killer and even investigating the possibility the child’s father could be involved. Despite the suspect’s arrest, the motive for the shooting remains unclear.
As previously reproted by NewsOne, a study from the Obstetrics & Gynecology Journal found that the leading cause of death for pregnant and postpartum people was homicide, with most cases involving guns. The study looked at mortality files for women age 10-44, and compared them to non-pregnant/non-postpartum women of the same age.
The disparity was quite telling but more pronounced for younger women and Black and other women of color. Younger pregnant women, ages 10-19, were six times more likely to die than their counterparts. For Black women, that difference increased to 12 times more likely to killed. (Read more here).
“We’re going to continue to do our job,” Mayor Adams previously said to reporters. “We’re going to find this person who is guilty of this horrific crime. We’re going to find him and bring him to justice. We need to make sure this innocent person receives the justice we’re asking for.”
SEE ALSO:
Clarence Thomas Writes Majority Opinion In ‘Dangerous’ SCOTUS Ruling Relaxing NY Gun Laws
The Homicide Rates Among Pregnant Black Women Will Shock You–Researchers Point To Systemic Racism
NYPD Makes Arrest In Killing Of Young Mom On Upper East Side was originally published on blackamericaweb.com
