Pregnant Teen Dies Saving Baby After Ponchatoula Road Rage Shooting Incident

A 17-year-old Louisiana girl who was shot in the head during a road rage incident has died, officials confirmed, but with her death came the gift of life.

Katelynn Strate of Ponchatoula was 28 weeks pregnant when Barry West, 54, allegedly critically injured the teenager who was 7 months pregnant.

Strate’s baby was delivered via emergency C-section and TPSO say the baby was born at 28 weeks, 3 pounds 11 ounces and is “continuing to do well” in an area neonatal intensive care unit.

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Officials say West fired into an SUV that Strate was a passenger in after a tailgating dispute. The victim was with two other people, and they were traveling in the same direction as West, who was driving a silver Dodge truck. The statement says that the two vehicles began to tailgate and break-check each other before West shot one round into the SUV.

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West claims he believed the occupants of the vehicle in front of him shot first, but TPSO was unable to find evidence to confirm the shots were fired, and no weapon was found in the victim’s vehicle.

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