Nationwide — Aaniyah Nowden, an African American woman from Birmingham, Alabama, has been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Justina Wallace, another African American woman with five children. It happened in 2023, and both women at the time were pregnant with a child from the same man. Aaniyah was arrested and has since been convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life without parole.
According to Local 12 News, police said Aaniyah shot Justina on July 7, 2023, during what started as a personal dispute that quickly escalated into violence.
Investigators found that both women were pregnant at the time and shared a connection through the same man. He was the father of Wallace’s toddler and also the father of Nowden’s unborn child.
Court testimony showed that Wallace went to Nowden’s home on the day of the shooting. A confrontation followed involving Nowden and the child’s father, and tensions rose during the exchange.
Wallace was holding her child, whose father was also the father of Nowden’s child, whom she was pregnant with, during the incident. Authorities said two of her five children were nearby when the shooting occurred. Her unborn baby did not survive.
Prosecutors presented cellphone video that captured parts of the confrontation. Deputy District Attorney Jason Wilson told the court, “This defendant shot and killed a pregnant woman who was carrying nothing but her baby in her arms.”
Nowden argued self-defense during the trial. She was originally charged with three counts of capital murder, but jurors dismissed two of those charges before reaching a verdict.
A Jefferson County court later sentenced Nowden to life in prison without the possibility of parole.