Pregnant Ala. Mom Is Killed in Front of Her Kids in Grocery Store: 'Beautiful Soul, Inside and Out'

Criminal charges have been filed against a man authorities allege fatally shot a pregnant woman in front of her two small children last week inside an Alabama grocery store.

Online records indicate Michael Mitchell, 39, faces three counts of capital murder for allegedly shooting 28-year-old Lavon McCreary to death on December 2 at the Pic-N-Sav, an employee-owned grocery store in Evergreen.

McCreary’s two young children witnessed the shooting, according to family members, who told WEAR the victim was pregnant at the time of her death.

She was due to deliver her third child this week.

“She was a great person,” McCreary’s cousin, Lacedric Goldman, told the station. “Every time you see her, she’s smiling — beautiful soul, inside and out. … Every time you see her, she’s smiling.”

A motive for the killing is being investigated.

Relative say Mitchell is the father of McCreary’s two children.

The family would not discuss the status of their relationship when the killing occurred.

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McCreary’s aunt, Josephine Wyatkins, told the station her niece “was a good-hearted person, she really was, and we are going to miss her.”

Wyatkins described the incident as “domestic violence.”

According to AL.com, two of the murder counts are for McCreary’s death, and one is for her unborn child.

The paternity of the fetus was unknown at press time.

Mitchell has not entered pleas to the charges against him and it was unclear Tuesday if he had an attorney who could comment on his behalf.