Pregnant woman killed, infant injured in Orlando-area shooting, deputies say

Teenage girl also injured

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A shooting in the Orlando area Monday afternoon left a pregnant woman dead and an infant and teenage girl injured, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Office.

Sheriff Jerry Demings said the shooting happened shortly before 3 p.m. at Gamble and Dunsford drives.

Deputies were in the area on an unrelated call when they heard gunshots and rushed to the scene to find a 13-year-old suffering from a gunshot wound to the arm getting out of a silver Ford Taurus.

Demings said that girl, a 21-year-old pregnant woman, a 21-year-old man, a 15-year-old child, a 6-year-old child and a 10-month-old boy had been in that vehicle when someone in an older-model Chevrolet Malibu riddled it with bullets.

The pregnant woman, identified as Imelda Francois, was gravely injured when deputies arrived, and she later died at an area hospital, according to authorities. The baby was struck in the side with a bullet fragment and was taken to an area hospital, where he is in good condition.

The other occupants of the vehicle were not injured. Deputies said Francois and the man who was in the vehicle were in a romantic relationship and are the parents of the infant. Their relationship to the other children, if any, is not known.

Demings said investigators believe that the occupants of a Malibu, described as two young men, pursued and targeted the Ford Taurus for an unknown reason. Their vehicle is actively being sought.

Sky 6 video from the scene showed yellow crime scene tape surrounding multiple homes and several patrol cars on the street.

Demings described the crime as particularly violent and asked for the community's help in solving the case.

“I hope this is something that’s of concern to the entire community and we hope that the community comes forward. We can only solve these types of crimes if people come forward and provide information," Demings said.

Bishop Kelvin Cobaris echoed what the sheriff said, asking the suspects in this case to come forward.

"Put yourself in the shoes of the family that life has been taken from -- and a child that the mother was pregnant with -- and turn yourself in," he said.

If you have any information on this crime, call Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS.


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