Columbia woman charged in 2021 shooting that left pregnant woman brain dead
A Columbia woman has been charged in a 2021 shooting that left a pregnant woman brain dead.
The Columbia Police Department said it charged Daveesha Baskerville, 29, with voluntary manslaughter in the August shooting of 31-year-old Brittany Scott. Doctors had kept Scott’s body alive for weeks to allow her baby to grow.
Scott, a mother of two, was pregnant with her third child when she was shot at an apartment complex off Two Notch Road.
Baskerville turned herself in to Columbia police officers Sunday on charges of manslaughter and possession of a weapon during a violent crime, police said.
In October 2021, Scott’s mother, Terronda Nielson, spoke with The State about her daughter, the shooting, Scott’s hospitalization and Nielson’s frustration that the shooter had yet to be arrested despite being known by investigators. Scott died in the hospital from the shooting.
Scott’s shooting left her brain dead in a Columbia hospital, Scott’s mother said. But doctors kept Scott’s body alive for almost two months so that her unborn child could continue to develop.
Doctors delivered the child on Sept. 26, and after weeks in critical condition, the baby, named Zion, was able to go home with his family.
Zion is “thriving” but dealing with the typical issues of prematurely born babies, Nielson told The State recently. He is expected to do well but his future will be more clear when he turns a year old.
The police department provided few details about Scott’s shooting in August.
Scott was involved in a dispute, police said at the time, possibly just verbal, in the parking lot of an apartment complex on the 2200 block of Waverly Street. Public records indicate she lived at the complex. At about 9 p.m., a person shot Scott in the head in the parking lot.
About an hour later, the police department reported on social media that the shooting was an isolated incident between acquaintances and that investigators were looking into the killing.
Baskerville will be prosecuted by the 5th Circuit Solicitor’s Office headed by Solicitor Byron Gipson.
Voluntary manslaughter is punishable with up to 30 years in prison.
The crime is defined by the South Carolina code of laws as “the unlawful killing of another without malice, express or implied.”
Staff reporter Noah Feit contributed to this story.
This story was originally published March 14, 2022 at 12:58 PM.