A U.S. Army sergeant has been arrested in connection with the murder of a pregnant woman who was found fatally shot on the side of a Georgia highway this week.
On Tuesday, deputies responded to reports of a car crash and found 29-year-old Akeila Ware with gunshot wounds in her bullet-riddled car, Troup County Sheriff James Woodruff said during a press conference Friday.
Ware was 33 Weeks Pregnant with Killer's Child
Alonzo Dargan Jr., 30, was taken into custody at Fort Bragg, where he was on active duty as a staff sergeant, Dargan has been charged with murder, feticide and possession of a firearm. Ware, a mother of five, was 33 weeks pregnant with a boy and Dargan was the father of the child.
Investigators believe Ware had been followed by Dargan before she was shot at, run off the road and left to die. She was transported to a hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries. Her unborn baby also did not survive. Authorities also revealed Dargan is married with other children.
"I could not believe somebody had shot and killed a young mother with five children," Woodruff said during Friday's press conference. "And on top of that, killed her and she had a baby inside her that resulted in the death of that baby."
During the investigation, it was determined that evidence at the scene came from a silver Nissan that the shots were fired from. On Wednesday, the sheriff's office received information that Dargan was in Troup County at the time of the incident and that he owned a 2000 silver Nissan. He was taken into custody at 3.30 p.m. at Fort Bragg.
Ware and Dargan were Previously in a Long-Distance Relationship
According to Troup County Capt. Kelli Ellington, Dargan grew up in Troup County and met Ware while in school, Ellington said. The two were in a relationship at some point, but Ellington could not confirm if they were together at the time of the incident. They had been in a long-distance relationship at some point while he was at Fort Bragg, Ellington confirmed.
