ATLANTA — Shakiya Pridgen grew up in the Charlotte area. She was a mother of two excited about bringing her third child into the world.
“She was right there and I still couldn’t protect her, no matter how close she was to me,” said Verdina Scott, Pridgen’s mother.
On Tuesday, Pridgen was shot and killed in her Atlanta apartment along with her unborn son.
Her window was sprayed with bullets.
“It was senseless,” Scott said. “She was murdered in her bed while she sleeping next to her two children.”
Although she was living in Atlanta, Pridgen has strong ties to the area. She was a member of the ARP Church in Gastonia.
“Charlotte is where she’s from. Charlotte is where she was born. Charlotte is where she became who she is,” said Scott.
Police arrested Devin Anthony and charged the ex-boyfriend with murder.
The family says he was the father of her unborn child and helped take care of her other children. They have a hard time picturing him as a killer.
“That’s not the guy that we knew,” Scott said. “We knew a church going guy, a wake up and take the kids to daycare guy, go to church every Sunday. That’s not who we know.”
Scott says his family was also looking forward to his son’s arrival. Pridgen named him Kyren.
“She was ecstatic, she couldn’t wait for her son Kyren to be here,” said Scott. “Oh, she had so many plans for that baby and all three of her children.”
Pridgen had plans to go to nursing school so that she could help others.
Her family is heartbroken that she won’t get to live out those dreams.