Posted on May 30, 2012

Family Fears Revenge After Brutal Assault on Pregnant Woman

Charles E. Ramirez, The Detroit News, May 30, 2012

Family members of a 22-year-old pregnant woman who reportedly was kidnapped, shot and set afire this weekend are concerned about the safety of the victim, her newborn son and their own, police said Tuesday.

“The family has asked that we not release any more information about (the victim),” Warren Police Detective Paul Houtos said after the two Warren men accused of committing the Saturday morning attack were formally charged in District Court. “The family fears retaliation.”

Authorities have charged Antonio Mathis and Jamal Rogers, both 22, with assault with intent to murder, conspiracy to commit assault with intent to murder and felony firearm possession. The charge of assault with intent to murder is a felony punishable by up to life in prison.

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Also Tuesday, the victim, Latonya Bowman, 22, who was 9 months pregnant, gave birth, officials said.

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Mathis has been convicted of receiving and concealing a stolen vehicle, and Rogers has been convicted of unarmed robbery and a felony weapons offense.

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Authorities said Bowman had gone to a movie on Friday night with Rogers, her ex-boyfriend and the child’s father.

Bowman dropped Rogers at his home on Sherman Avenue in Warren early Saturday morning, according to authorities.

Rogers shares the home with his mother, a girlfriend and Mathis. Galasso said Rogers and Mathis have been friends since 2009.

Rogers allegedly convinced her to park her car in the garage at his home, closed the door, and then someone put a gun to her head, officials said.

Police said the men used duct tape to bind the woman’s hands and feet and cover her mouth and eyes. She was taken in her car to an abandoned lot near Interstates 94 and 75.

One of the men then allegedly doused the woman with lighter fluid and threw a lit match on her, officials said.

Bowman managed to get out of the backseat of the car and roll on the ground to smother the flames.

Police said Rogers allegedly then fired two shots at Bowman, one of which struck her in the back but missed vital organs.

The woman eventually freed herself and drove to her mother’s house on Detroit’s east side.

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Antonio Mathis and Jamal Rogers