Pregnant black women are being killed at an alarming rate

On January 22, 2022, Chandra Meeks, a mother and nurse living in Belleville, Illinois, posted a mysterious video to her TikTok account. “Sometimes I wonder if I’m doing the right thing by talking about what happened to my sister,” Meeks told the camera as she spoke from the passenger seat of her automotive, the sun shining on her. “But I just don’t understand why no one has been charged with her murder; why was her alleged killer allowed to taunt me?” she asked. “The loss of my sister and her unborn child has affected many people.”

Perinatal homicide, the killing of a pregnant woman or a girl who has just given birth, is an additional element of the maternal mortality crisis plaguing the United States. Not only are pregnant women 35% more prone to die than non-pregnant women, but additionally Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health in addition they found that homicide is the leading explanation for death amongst pregnant women. These murders are often the results of domestic violence and the perpetrators are often their partners. Not only are black women more prone to be murdered through the perinatal period than every other group, but these cases typically go unsolved.

Meeks’ younger sister, Catherine “Cathy” Jackson, was shot to death in her East St. home. Louis January 9, 2018 She was eight months pregnant. Just a couple of weeks before the attack, the mother had moved downtown to an apartment on North Ninth Street. Before moving, Jackson was experiencing homelessness and living in a shelter. So when an area organization helped her move right into a latest apartment, she was looking forward to a fresh start.

Meeks was completely happy for her sister’s latest starting, but anxious that the neighborhood had a foul repute. “I said, ‘Cathy, are you going to be okay there?’ It’s dangerous,’” Meeks recalls him telling her. “I don’t want you there.” And she just kept saying that she was good, that she can be good.

On the night of the murder, Meeks was scheduled to go to her sister at her latest home. “She called me and asked me to come pick up my youngest nephew, *James,” he says. “And I agreed because little kids can be overwhelming – everyone needs a break.” As the oldest sibling, Meeks spent plenty of time along with her sister. She cooked family dinners and hosted Jackson and 4 other children on a regular basis. She was like a second mother to all of them.

“But when I started driving to pick up James, there was too much fog on the highway and I couldn’t see anything. So I had to turn around and go home – when I tried to call her, she didn’t answer,” Meeks said. Two days later, she received a call from her mother explaining that Jackson’s owner had found her sister shot to death. Her older children weren’t home when the shooting occurred. James was found at the scene; he had been at home for several days together with his mother’s pregnant, lifeless body. Meeks claims that the bullet to the face disfigured her a lot that she opted for a closed casket funeral.

Firearms are used 63% all perinatal cases. Pregnant women are likely to be more vulnerable to the sort of violence in states with more lenient gun laws and where women have less access to abortion and reproductive services. However, Illinois is understood for strict gun laws and robust reproductive take care of women in comparison with other states.

But race also plays a job. “Black women are disproportionately affected by perinatal homicide, which is likely the result of a myriad of factors rooted in structural racism,” says Grace Keegan, M.D. candidate at the University of Chicago and lead writer of the study published within the journal Black Women ” .

It’s not only black women who struggle with this higher rates of domestic violence across the countrywe are less prone to report it due to the stigma related to it, and decide to remain silent as a substitute. It is essential to do not forget that violence shouldn’t be at all times physical; it’s any behavior through which an individual exercises power and control over one other person.

Meeks describes her sister’s former partner and James’ father as abusive, claiming he killed her sister. “When I first caught James, all he said was, ‘Daddy, shoot Mommy.'” After the murder, Jackson’s ex-wife stayed wanted for questioning. Ultimately, nonetheless, he was released. While Meeks has never had a very good feeling about her sister’s ex, she will’t confirm that her sister was in an abusive relationship. But when she gained custody of James, she claims his father began harassing her online and writing letters that he left in her mailbox to intimidate her because he wanted custody of James.

“In these types of cases, there are usually similar patterns of domestic violence by the former victim,” says Amara Coffer, host of the podcast, a real crime podcast that highlights the stories of Black women who’ve gone missing or been murdered. She described greater than 200 cases like Jackson’s and dozens of perinatal cases. “Signs of violence are not always blatant,” he notes. “The victim may never have been physically hit, but there are certain things that family and friends will say later, like, ‘You know, we didn’t really like him.'”

According to Meeks, her sister hid her pregnancy and can have had doubts about her next steps. But when Jackson’s ex came upon she was pregnant, he was upset and accused her of hiding the pregnancy to cover that the unborn child was not his. Coffer says she’s noticed a pattern within the strain an unplanned pregnancy can placed on a relationship, and that it may possibly be a turning point. “Abusive messages, controlling behavior and stalking, especially if she tried to leave or he accused her of cheating, are usually clear signs of abuse, especially when the victim ends in death,” she says.

Unfortunately, until a radical investigation is conducted, it’s inconceivable to ensure who brutally murdered Jackson and her unborn child. Now her sister is keeping her name alive by posting memories of her on social media. She gained custody of James, and although Meeks raises the boy as his own, she makes sure he remembers his mother. One of Meeks’ last TikTok posts was about her sister’s birthday. “Happy birthday to Cathy,” James sang within the clip. – Do you miss Cathy? Meeks asked James. “Ah,” he replied with a smile.