Teen Suspect in Custody After Fatal Shooting of 'Beloved' Ill. Mom of 8 Inside Minivan
A 16-year-old is in custody for allegedly shooting an Illinois mom with a stray bullet while she was driving four of her eight children home from daycare in August, multiple outlets report.
On Aug. 21, at about 7 p.m., Marshia Bowman, 40, was in her minivan at the intersection of Sibley Boulevard and Cottage Grove Avenue in Dolton when shots were fired, the Dolton Police Department said, CBS Chicago reported.
Caught in the crossfire, Bowman was struck in the head by a random bullet, said officials, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
With her four daughters, ages 1, 4, 8 and 9, in the backseat, Bowman lost control of the minivan and crashed into a tree, say police, NBC Chicago and the Chicago Sun-Times report.
Marshia McGill has died after being shot in the head while driving her kids in her vehicle in south suburban Dolton.
“The most loving angel of our family has now made her transition,” McGill’s husband, Leneaus Bowman, said in a statement.https://t.co/CrkN0WY1vu— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) August 23, 2019
When the minivan came to a stop, the girls ran out and yelled for help, saying that their mother had been shot, CBS Chicago reports.
The children were uninjured in the shooting and the crash, say police.
Bowman was rushed to a local hospital, where she died two days later.
RELATED: ‘Beloved’ Illinois Mom Dies After Being Shot by Stray Bullet Driving 4 Kids Home from Daycare
At the time of the shooting, authorities said they believed that Bowman was caught in gunfire that erupted between two sparring groups just as she got to the intersection, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
Police scoured surveillance video for any clues as to who allegedly shot Bowman in the chaos, CBS Chicago reports.
On Wednesday, a suspect was taken into custody, multiple outlets including the Chicago Sun-Times, CBS Chicago and WGN 9 report.
BREAKING: Sources tell me a teenage person of interest is in custody in the murder of Marshia Bowman -- the Dolton mother caught in the crossfire, shot in the head, while driving her children. More @cbschicago soon.
Previous story -- https://t.co/jfmkKMz22E— Brad Edwards (@tvbrad) September 11, 2019
The Dolton Police Chief did not immediately return PEOPLE’s call for comment.
Authorities have not yet released the identity of the suspect or the charges the suspect faces.
At Bowman’s funeral, her loved ones remembered her for her joyful spirit.
“Marshia is just sleeping. She’s not dead,” Bowman’s mother-in-law, Magnolia Bowman, said during the service, the Chicago Tribune reports. “And I’ll dance for Marshia because I know in Heaven, the party’s still going on.”
Bowman had five daughters and three stepsons with her husband, whom she married in 2008, the Chicago Tribune reports.
Her grieving husband told ABC7 in Chicago he’s trying to be there for his children as best he can.
“I’m trying to cope, keep moving, keep going,” said Lenaus Bowman, who described his late wife as a loving woman and always willing to lend a hand.
“A lot of people do things because they are forced to do it,” he told the outlet. “She helped because it’s what she wanted to do. To her, it was a duty or responsibility, being a born-again Christian, to help.”
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Bowman said he is not looking forward to a future without his soulmate. “We balanced off of each other pretty good. So the things that she didn’t know about, I know about,” Bowman said. “The things that I didn’t do, she did.”
McGill was an organ donor, her husband added.
A GoFundMe campaign was established to help cover the costs of Bowman’s funeral and to help care for her children.
