Pregnant teacher loses unborn child in head-on collision while driving home from baby shower

JONES COUNTY, Miss. - A pregnant fourth-grade teacher from Jones County, Mississippi, was struck in a head-on collision while driving home from her baby shower Saturday, WDAM 7 reported.

Mashayla Harper was 36 weeks pregnant when a driver collided with her vehicle and then fled the scene, leaving Harper severely injured and killing her unborn daughter.

According to the WDAM report, the Jones County Sheriff’s Office arrested James Gilbert, 33, and charged him with leaving the scene of an accident with injuries.

“She was just pointing at her stomach and she kept pointing at her stomach," Maurice Pruitt Sr., Harper’s father, told WDAM7. “She couldn’t talk because she had tubes in her. She was aware, but when she woke up she wanted to know where her baby was.”

Harper suffered severe trauma, with doctors fearful that she wouldn’t survive her surgeries, Pruitt told WDAM. According to Pruitt, Harper had to be revived at least once.

A service was held for Harper’s unborn daughter on Wednesday, but Harper couldn’t attend because she was still in the hospital. She has been stabilized and moved out of the ICU and into her own hospital room.

This story was reported from Los Angeles.