Police in Texas have arrested a 17-year-old woman for several aggravated robberies linked to the murder of another teen and her unborn child.
Atayanna Asia Nicole Douglas, of Beaumont, was located and picked up by investigators on Tuesday in Lake Charles, Louisiana. While later being interviewed by police, Douglas gave information that implicated her in three aggravated robberies believed to be connected to the capital murder of 19-year-old Kera Teel and her unborn daughter, Kyndal, Beaumont police announced late Tuesday.
“The investigation has led to the arrest of numerous gang members involved in violent crimes throughout Beaumont,” the department said in a news release. “Officers seized numerous guns and drugs and are still in the early stages of this ongoing investigation.”
Teel was shot last week in the parking lot of Sienna Apartment Homes in Beaumont. Teel and her mother were returning home from a doctor’s appointment in Galveston when a man approached the vehicle and shot the expectant mother, the Beaumont Enterprise reports.
Teel’s mother, Mindy Morris, said a man in a black mask opened fire after they spotted a black Cadillac driving near the exit of the apartment complex.
“She kept saying ‘No, please, please don’t, no,’” Morris told KBMT. “And I jerked her back and he opened the door and shot at her twice.”
Keel, who was seven months pregnant, later died at a hospital. Her daughter, Kyndal Jae Teel, died shortly after being delivered, KBMT reports.
More than $20,000 in reward money was generated in the case, according to the Beaumont Enterprise, and a GoFundMe page for Teel’s husband had received more than $15,000 as of Wednesday.
“She was seven months pregnant expecting their second child,” the website reads. “Andrew not only lost his wife, but his unborn child. They also have a one year old beautiful little girl. Please help this family who is in a lot of pain and suffering from this act of violence.”