Mom of 7 shot dead while holding her infant, family says

A Maryland mother of seven died Tuesday after her boyfriend allegedly shot her in the head while she was holding their 2-month-old daughter. Shawanda Alston, 38, was sitting on a bed inside her Bowie home on August 20 when she and her boyfriend, Kimball Alton Hinton Jr., 41, began arguing over back-to-school supplies, according to court documents obtained by WUSA 9. Hinton, who is also the father of five of Alston’s children, told police another child tried to intervene before he allegedly pulled a gun from his pocket and shot Alston.

A young girl called 911 and told dispatchers that her father had shot her mother inside the home on Myrtle Avenue, the documents state. Two minutes later, Hinton reportedly called police himself and said he had shot his girlfriend. When officers searched the mailbox, they found a Sig Sauer .380 handgun and a blood-soaked towel, according to the outlet.

Alston was rushed to a nearby hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries on Tuesday afternoon. Hinton was arrested and charged with attempted murder, assault, reckless endangerment and multiple gun-related offenses. He is being held at the Department of Corrections in Upper Marlboro without bond.

Six of Alston’s kids, ranging in age from two months to 18 years, were home at the time of the shooting, and some witnessed the incident, her eldest daughter, 21-year-old Zhanya Freeman, told WUSA 9. "My mom at the time was holding my 2-month-old sister," Freeman said. "The 13-year-old is the one that was holding her until the ambulance got there.

She's not really OK," she continued. "That's a lot for anyone to go through and she's 13, so it's, you know, it's definitely a lot." Freeman also alleges that there is more to the shooting than the pair fighting over school supplies. So, I don’t want that to be like the reason, that’s not the reason.

He just, he was just looking for a reason,” Freeman said. Freeman wants her mother to be remembered for her kindness and generosity, particularly the way she helped those in need. "She would fix food for homeless people and take us out to hand it out," she told WUSA 9.