Grieving Louisville family pleads for answers after pregnant woman killed in shooting

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Louisville family is mourning the tragic loss of a pregnant woman shot and killed Wednesday night in the parking lot of a Chickasaw neighborhood market.

Louisville Metro Police have not released details about the shooting in the parking lot of Three Brothers Market, but neighbors reported hearing multiple gunshots.

Jermia Offutt, 28, was shot in the 4100 block of West Broadway, near Cecil Avenue, at 9 p.m., according to LMPD. She was taken to University of Louisville Hospital where she and her unborn son died.

Offutt’s mother described her heartbreak Thursday, saying her daughter was pregnant with another child and solely relied on her to care for her children.

“Now my grandbaby doesn’t have a mother because of this nonsense that's going on around her,” Anquanette Davis said. “I need help and I need answers for everything. I’m so upset. Y’all kids are destroying other lives, and that’s not OK.”

Offutt has two brothers, neither of whom live locally. Her family says this is the third violent death in their household. Her brother, Deshone Johnson, was shot and killed in 2010 in the Shawnee neighborhood, and another uncle was murdered in 2003 on Brook Street.

The family is asking the same question many in the community are asking: why was Offutt killed in front of her children?

“My nieces saw that. It’s ridiculous. This has got to stop," her brother, Shy Woods, said. "This is the reason why I moved out (of Louisville), I couldn’t deal with this anymore. Now I got to come back under these circumstances.”

So far, no arrests have been made in the case. Police have not released further information about possible suspects or motives.

The family, and neighbors, are calling for justice and answers as the community grapples with yet another act of senseless violence.

Anyone with information in this or any other case is asked to call LMPD's anonymous Crime Tip Line at 502-574-LMPD (5673). Tips can also be submitted anonymously through the department's online Crime Tip Portal by clicking here.

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