A 34-year-old pregnant woman was found deceased on Tuesday, April 2, after a double shooting occurred at the Westgate apartments in Manassas, Virginia.
Leann Harris and her friend Asia Payne, 22, were allegedly shot by Harris’ cousin, Edward James Jackson Bland. The 36-year-old was arrested by the Shenandoah County Sheriff’s office and is being charged with murder.
Reports say that Prince William County police were first called to Westgate Apartments Complex on Sudley Road regarding an armed carjacking report on the morning of April 2. Two hours later, Prince William police received a call from the Shenandoah County Sheriff’s Office with the news that the stolen car had been recovered and Jackson Bland had been arrested.
Shenandoah deputies passed along the arrest warrant affidavit saying Jackson Bland allegedly killed two women in the area. When the police arrived at the address provided they discovered the bodies of the two women, pronounced dead upon arrival.
May Twyman, Harris’ mother, said the two cousins were inseparable for most of their lives. “I can’t imagine how her protector became the person who took my baby away,” Twyman said. “It just blows me away.”
Harris’ family held a vigil for her and her unborn baby on Sunday at Stonewall Park in Manassas. She leaves behind three children, ages 15, 14, and 4. She was pregnant with her fourth child, due in September.
Following the vigil, Harris’ mother, May Twyman told WUSA9, “That is an innocent baby in her stomach that I have to lay to rest with my daughter. It’s not fair, it’s not.”
“My baby was shot in the head. In the head, in the temple right here. I had to go identify my baby laying down on that table. This is hard. I don’t wish this on anyone,” Twyman added.
Loved ones described Harris as “[a] good-hearted person, loved to have fun, loved to be the life of the party, and the kind to bring the family together.”
Naveah Harris, her 15-year-old daughter, said she keeps reminding little brother how much his mother cared for him. “Mommy loved you very much and she’ll always love you no matter what happened to her,” she said, adding, “I loved her with everything in me and I am sorry that he decided to do that to her that night.”
Jackson Bland is facing charges for the carjacking and the women’s deaths. He was due back in court on April 8.
