Background: Bowie Police Department officers respond to a shooting on Myrtle Avenue in Bowie, Maryland (WUSA/YouTube). Inset left: Shawanda Alston (GoFundMe). Inset right: Kimball Alton Hinton Jr. (Bowie Police Department).
A Maryland mother of seven was cradling her infant daughter during an argument with her boyfriend over back-to-school supplies when he allegedly shot her in the head, authorities and the woman’s relatives said.
Kimball Hinton Jr., 41, has been charged with 12 offenses, among them attempted first-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault and three counts of reckless endangerment, according to Prince George’s County court records reviewed by Law&Crime.
The Bowie Police Department announced the charges Friday, but officials later confirmed that the victim, 38-year-old Shawanda Alston, had died. Authorities had not immediately said whether prosecutors would seek to elevate the attempted murder counts.
The shooting unfolded Thursday afternoon at a home in the 8500 block of Bowie, Maryland, a community located roughly 20 miles east of Washington, D.C. Alston was inside the residence with Hinton and most of her children, police said.
Court documents obtained by regional CBS affiliate WUSA say Hinton told investigators he and Alston had been arguing about their “inability to provide school supplies” for the children. Alston’s oldest daughter, Zhanya Freeman, said she is the eldest of seven siblings and that Hinton is the father of five of them.
During the dispute, Alston was reportedly sitting on a bed while holding her 2-month-old baby. Police say Hinton then pulled a firearm from his pocket and fired, striking Alston in the head.
According to court filings, a young girl placed a 911 call and told dispatchers that her father had shot her mother inside the family’s home. About two minutes later, Hinton also appeared to contact authorities, the documents state.
“I shot her,” he reportedly said. “The gun is in the mailbox.”
Officers arrived to find Alston with a gunshot wound. First responders brought her to a nearby hospital in critical condition, but on Tuesday, she was declared dead.
Police said the weapon used — a Sig Sauer .380 handgun — was seized at the scene. Hinton was arrested and booked in the Maryland Department of Corrections.
He is being held without bail and has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Sept. 21.
A GoFundMe set up for Alston says her family is “grieving a tremendous loss” and that this is an “incredibly painful” time for them, “especially the children in our home.”
The fundraiser adds: “As we try to move forward, we are facing not only the emotional weight of losing her, but also the practical challenges that come with rebuilding our sense of stability day by day.”
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