Marshae Jones and Ebony Jemison fought in the parking lot of the Dollar General in Pleasant Grove on Dec. 4, 2018.

The brawl, Jones’ family said, was the culmination of a long-simmering dispute between the two women over the father of the child Jones would have given birth to a few months later.

The fight ended as Jemison shot the unarmed Jones, killing her unborn child, authorities have said.

The tragic story took another twist Wednesday as it was revealed that Jones, 27, was charged with manslaughter in the death of her unborn daughter. A manslaughter charge that had been filed against Jemison, 23, soon after the shooting was then dropped after a grand jury declined to indict.

The indictment against Jones, unsealed on Thursday, says Jones “intentionally caused the death of .... unborn baby Jones by initiating a fight knowing she was five months pregnant."

If convicted, Jones could spend 20 years in prison.

Jones was released Thursday afternoon after posting $50,000 bond but did not wish to comment. Her grandmother, however, questioned the arrest.

“It’s not fair,’’ said Jones’ grandmother, Patrice Jones. “Marshae didn’t have a gun. How did they turn it around on her?”

Efforts to reach Jemison or her family were not immediately successful Thursday.

Jones was taken into custody Wednesday at Pleasant Grove police headquarters after being indicted by a Jefferson County Bessemer Cutoff grand jury.

The shooting happened about noon on Tuesday Dec. 4, 2018 outside Dollar General on Park Road, said Pleasant Grove police Lt. Danny Reid. Officers were dispatched to the scene on a report of someone shot but arrived to find that the victim – later identified as Jones - had been driven to Fairfield. Police and paramedics found Jones at a Fairfield convenience store.

From Fairfield, Jones was taken to UAB Hospital where she underwent surgery. The unborn baby did not survive the shooting.

That same day, Jemison was taken into custody. She was held in the Pleasant Grove City Jail until police, two days later, obtained a manslaughter warrant against her. Reid at the time said that although they planned to charge her with murder, they amended the charge to manslaughter.

“The investigation showed that the only true victim in this was the unborn baby,’’ Reid said in December. “It was the mother of the child who initiated and continued the fight which resulted in the death of her own unborn baby.”

Jones’ family said Jones, Jemison and the father of Jones’ unborn baby all worked together at a charcoal plant in western Jefferson County. The dispute between the women had been ongoing and escalated that day outside Dollar General. “This just didn’t start right there that day,’’ Patrice Jones said.

This photo provided by Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office shows Marshae Jones. Jones, whose fetus died after she was shot in a fight has been charged with manslaughter, while the woman accused of shooting her has been freed. She was indicted by the Jefferson County grand jury Wednesday, June 26, 2019. She was five months pregnant when 23-year-old Ebony Jemison shot her in the stomach during a December altercation regarding the fetus's father. (Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office via AP)AP

According to authorities, Jones was the aggressor in the dispute that day and continued to press the fight even after Jemison had gotten into her vehicle to try to get away. It was then that Jemison got hold of a gun and fired a shot at Jones to stop the attack.

Patrice Jones, however, denied that account.

“She (Jemison) had three people in the car with her. When Marshae saw the gun, she walked away and that’s when she was shot,” she said. “He (Reid) said Marshae threw the first lick.”

She said someone has cell phone video of the entire incident. “They were fighting fair,’’ she said, until Jemison pulled a gun. “She could have killed both of them.’’

Patrice Jones said she didn’t know if it was Jemison’s gun or if someone else in the vehicle handed it to her.

At the time of Jemison’s arrest, Reid said, “the mother’s involvement and culpability will be presented to a grand jury” to determine if she also will be charged in the incident.

All felony arrests go before a grand jury to either charge (true bill) or decline to charge (no bill) the suspect.

In this case, authorities put all evidence before a Bessemer Cutoff grand jury which convened on April 8, 2019.

Four days later, on April 12, the grand jury indicted Jones and declined to indict Jemison based on the evidence presented to them. Indictments are only made public once the defendant has been arrested and served, which is why news of the charges against Jones were made public Wednesday.

Bessemer Cutoff District Attorney Lynneice Washington, the first African-American female to be elected as a district attorney in Alabama, is out of the country and unavailable for comment.

“This case has not been processed any differently than any other felony case,’’ Bessemer Cutoff Chief Assistant District Attorney Valerie Hicks Powe said Thursday. “The grand jury was presented all of the available facts.”

Because it is an ongoing case, Powe nor police would not comment further about the investigation or prosecution.

Patrice Jones said she accompanied Jones and Jones’ 6-year-old daughter to the police department on Wednesday. It was then they learned of the indictment against Jones and her impending arrest. She said they were not expecting to hear Jones was charged in the case. “You can tell in her mugshot she had been crying,’’ Patrice Jones said.

“I’ve prayed about it and to be honest, I just put it in God’s hands,’’ she said. “Marshae’s been through a lot after she lost the baby. We had the baby cremated and then her house burned.”

“She’s lost a lot,’’ Patrice Jones said, “but she’s coping with it.”

The unborn baby would have been Patrice Jones’ eighth great grandchild. She had already been named Marlaysia Jones, and her remains now sit in a decorative urn on Patrice Jones’ mantle next to a plaque that reads, “Love one another.”

“It’s real pretty,’’ Patrice Jones said. “But this brings everything back up.”

“I just can’t believe it. How can you turn that around on a mother and say she killed her own unborn child?” Patrice Jones said. “I’m just really shocked.”

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