Police in Delaware charged a man with the fatal shooting of a young mother while she was on some front steps late last month.
Twenty-five-year-old Mateo Pinkston of Wilmington was arrested Wednesday and charged with second-degree murder and other offenses. He is being held on $1.5 million cash bail.
Pinkston is charged with the shooting death of Artiese Brown.
Brown, 24, along with a 19-year-old woman were sitting outside a home on W. 6th Street in Wilmington when a gunman suddenly opened fire.
Brown was struck in the lower back while the 19-year-old was struck in her left leg. Brown's cousin Renaesha Ellington rushed over to her and held her in her arms as they waited for police and paramedics to arrive.
"I tried to get her to grab my hand," Ellington said. "I tried to get her to squeeze my hand. I tried to get a response in some type of way by talking to her and putting pressure on the wound."
Brown died a short time alter at Christiana Hospital. She left behind two sons.
Brown's family believes the shooting was random and that she was struck by stray bullets fired from down the block.
"He's a coward,' said Candice Brown, the victim's sister. "You shoot in the crowd! In broad daylight with kids outside! So you didn't care. You didn't care!"
