Police: 3 arrested after pregnant woman killed in case of mistaken identity

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB/Gray News) - Police say three 19-year-old men from Louisiana were arrested in connection with the shooting death of a pregnant woman who may have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Detectives booked Marques Porch, Gregory Park and Derrick Curry – all 19 – into the East Baton Rouge Parish prison. Police said they are all being charged with second-degree murder and first-degree feticide.

Police said the victim, 36-year-old Kerisha Johnson, was found shot to death in her car early Sunday. She was just weeks away from giving birth, WAFB reports. Her unborn child did not survive.

According to police, Johnson was shot around 12:30 a.m. while attempting to pick people up from a party. She had dropped them off just moments earlier but turned around after hearing gunshots at the party. She was then caught in a second shooting.

Police Sgt. L’Jean McKneely told WAFB that Johnson was shot multiple times, and her car was also shot up. He said investigators believe this was a case of mistaken identity.

“Through the course of investigation, we believe that the person who was shooting at her thought that she was the person who had just fired the multiple shots,” McKneely said. “She was not.”

Police said one of the suspects was injured in the gunfire.

The East Baton Rouge Coroner’s Office said Johnson’s death has been ruled a homicide.

According to officials, Porch worked for the West Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office as a full-time corrections employee between June 2022 and November 2022. The spokesman added that Porch began working as a part-time corrections employee in February 2023 but was immediately terminated following his arrest.

Police are still looking for the person who fired the shots at the party.

The case remains under investigation.

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