Newborn a “source of light” after surviving fatal attack on 17-year-old mother before birth

Image credit: Katie Cancienne Liebert via Facebook / Prabin Basnet via Unsplash

A grieving family have shared how a newborn baby girl is doing well and is a “source of light” for them after her mother was fatally shot during a road rage incident when seven months pregnant.

According to CNN, Katelynn Strate was 17-years-old when she was shot in the head during a road rage incident whilst she was on her way to visit her mother with her boyfriend. She was seven months pregnant with a little girl at the time.

Strate was placed on life support whilst her little girl was born via emergency c-section, weighing just 3 pounds and 11 ounces. Strate was treated in a critical care unit, but sadly passed away later after her life support was switched off.  

The family of Strate have said that her little girl is doing very well and has “been a source of light in an unimaginably dark time.”

They described Strate as a true country girl who was excited to become a mother.

“We know that without a doubt she loved this baby,” the family said in a statement shared by Katie Cancienne Liebert, a friend of the family. “She chose to give this baby life, and she was looking forward to being a mother.”

Strate had not picked a name for her baby yet, nor had she had her baby shower, but she recently had a gender reveal where a beautiful video shows the beaming mother finding out she is having a little girl. The community came together for a baby shower hosted by Strate’s family in her honour, where many were eager to show their support. A GoFundMe has raised over $45,000 to help cover the funeral costs and care for raising the baby.

In a video montage of Strate originally posted on Facebook by Lieber, shared by the Daily Mail, the news outlet uses a thumbnail that captions the video calling it a “mother’s final gift”.

Sandra Parda of the Life Institute commented, saying: “This is an absolutely heartbreaking tragedy. We are so glad that this newborn baby is doing very well and offering some light to this family as they grieve the loss of their daughter. Becoming a mother is a precious gift and it is very clear that Ms Strate was truly embracing that and it is very moving that in her final moments, she was still able to offer the gift of life to her precious daughter.”