Fatal road rage shooting of pregnant 17-year-old in Louisiana sparks outrage from officials

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BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana officials are expressing indignation over a road rage shooting that killed a pregnant teenager and caused her baby to be delivered early.

Katelynn Strate, 17, was a passenger in the car and seven months pregnant when she was struck in the head by a bullet fired by a driver in another vehicle on Sunday, the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office said.

Strate was taken to a hospital and placed on life support, the sheriff’s office said in a statement Monday. Her baby was delivered by emergency cesarean section and was “doing well” in a neonatal intensive care unit, according to the statement.

“This is terrible. This poor infant is fighting for their life in the NICU while his or her mother is on life support. All because of road rage? There is no excuse,” Attorney General Liz Murrill posted on the social platform X on Tuesday.

The sheriff’s office later wrote in a post on Facebook that Strate had “officially become a donor hero.”

Law enforcement said a man driving a silver truck and the driver of the SUV the teenager was riding in were tailgating and “brake-checking” each other around 9 a.m. Sunday in Ponchatoula, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of New Orleans.

Authorities said the truck's driver, Barry West, 54, shot one round into the SUV when it was in front of his vehicle. Police said he believed the occupants of the SUV had shot at him first, but evidence showed no shots were fired from the SUV and no weapon was found inside, the sheriff’s office said.

West was charged with one count of second-degree murder, three counts of attempted second-degree murder, illegal use of a weapon and obstruction of justice.

The Associated Press could not immediately identify an attorney who could comment on West's behalf.

“This is a senseless tragedy on Sunday morning with no logical reason for this family to be experiencing this heartbreak right now,” said Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff Gerald Sticker.