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Baby Of Pregnant Hairstylist Who Was Fatally Shot While Sitting In Her Home Dies 5 Days Later
Rabiah Ahmad was struck by a bullet while sitting in a bed in her own home in Columbia, Maryland.
A Maryland baby born prematurely after her mother was fatally shot has also died.
Hairstylist Rabiah Ahmad, 30, was inside her Columbia home when multiple bullets were fired into the residence, the Howard County Police Department said in a news release.
Ahmad’s boyfriend Kadeem Bailey, who was present during the shooting, told Fox Baltimore that Ahmad was sitting on a bed when she was shot in the head. Ahmad, who was 28 weeks pregnant, was rushed to the hospital where she later died.
Doctors were able to deliver her baby girl, Ahja. The premature infant remained in critical condition for five days but died on Wednesday as a result of the shooting.
Ahmad, who was struck once with a bullet, was the only person shot during the incident, police noted. She had only been living at the location for a few months. Police say they are trying to determine who the intended target may have been.
Police said there is no evidence at this stage to indicate that Ahmad, who was Muslim, was targeted or that the shooting was a hate crime. However, the incident took place on the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, known as the the Day of Sacrifice, the Associated Press reports. The Council on The American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is providing support to her family and they are offering a reward to anyone with information leading to the arrest and conviction of Ahmad and Ahja’s killer or killers.
Ahmad, who is originally from Miami, Floria, was a successful hairstylist who provided services under her own brand, House of Kiyomi. She was known in the Miami arts community and styled a Fenty Skin model for last year’s Miami Art Week, the Miami New Times reports.
“I knew of Rabiah’s work before I ever met her,” Becca McCharen-Tran, founder of fashion brand Chromat, told the outlet. “She was such an expert and so creative. There were no limits to her creativity.”
Anyone with information on the case is urged to contact police at 410-313-STOP or HCPDCrimeTips@howardcountymd.gov. Callers may remain anonymous.
