Slain pregnant woman’s baby dies
Police still investigating shooting last Friday at residence in Columbia
The baby girl who was delivered after a pregnant woman was shot and killed last Friday night in Columbia has died, Howard County police announced Thursday.
County police said officers responded to the 6600 block of Dovecote Drive for a report of several shots fired at about 11 p.m. July 31. They found Rabiah Ahmad, 30, shot inside a home there. She was taken to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, where she died, police said.
She was 28 weeks pregnant, and doctors were able to deliver the baby girl, Ahja, who was in critical condition until Wednesday, when police said she died.
No one else was injured in the shooting, according to police. Police said multiple bullets were fired into the residence from the outside, and one of the rounds hit Ahmad.
Ahmad’s boyfriend, Kadeem Bailey, confirmed Saturday that he was present the night of the shooting but declined to comment further.
The shooting took place on the Muslim holiday of Eid alAdha, the Day of Sacrifice. While Bailey did confirm that Ahmad was Muslim, police said this week there is no evidence to suggest the shooting was a hate crime. The motive remains under investigation.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Howard County Police Department are offering separate rewards for information about the killings; police are offering $10,000 and CAIR is offering $5,000.
Zainab Chaudry, director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations office in Maryland, met with Ahmad’s family Sunday at the hospital and learned Wednesday morning that the baby had died.
“We’re just hoping that someone with information will come forward and help bring justice to this family,” Chaudry said Thursday. “We just want to help bring closure to them. There’s too many unanswered questions right now.”
Ahmad’s family is planning to have her body sent to Florida, where she is from, for funeral arrangements, according to Chaudry. It was unclear Thursday if Ahja’s body also would be sent to Florida.
Howard police are urging residents in the area to check their doorbell or security cameras for any activity around 11 p.m. Friday. Anyone who may have seen or heard something in the area, or has any other information, is urged to contact police at 410- 313- STOP or HCPDCrimeTips@howardcountymd.gov. Callers may remain anonymous.
A GoFundMe has been set up in honor of Ahmad and Ahja at gofundme.com/f/ kiyomi-house.