PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The city is offering a $50,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest in the shooting deaths of a pregnant woman and her unborn baby.
Mayor Jim Kenny called the news deeply upsetting and heartbreaking on Twitter as he announced this reward.
Commissioner Daniel Outlaw called it a heinous crime that appeared to be targeted.
At about 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, police say 32-year-old Jessica Covington was unloading gifts from her baby shower outside her home on Palmetto Street near Benner Street, when she was shot in the head and abdomen.
Neighbor Denise Wilson described what she heard to NBC 10.
"I heard, like, nine shots -- boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom."
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Police say Covington was seven months pregnant. She was taken to the hospital where she died. Her unborn baby was pronounced dead shortly after her.
The city typically offers rewards of $10,000 per homicide, but in this case, top officials authorized an extra $30,000, bringing the reward offered to $50,000.
This comes as Philadelphia approaches 500 homicides for the year.