Mississippi Teacher Suffers Miscarriage, Hospitalized By Hit-And-Run After Baby Shower

KEY POINTS

Woman's car was struck head on while driving home from baby shower
She was 36 weeks pregnant at the time of the accident
Alleged driver was arrested and charged with leaving the scene of an accident with injuries

A Mississippi woman was recovering Friday following a hit-and-run crash that caused a miscarriage as she was headed home from her baby shower, police said.

Her condition has been upgraded from serious.

The accident occurred on Saturday after Mashayla Harper, 24, left the gathering in southeast Mississippi. She was driving home when her car was struck head-on by another vehicle, whose driver fled the scene. Harper, who was 36 weeks pregnant, was rushed to a nearby hospital.

“The doctor came in and explained Mashayla had severe trauma to her and the baby didn’t make it through the accident,” Harper’s father, Maurice Pruitt Sr., told Jackson NBC-affiliate WLBT. He said she was kept on life support for 24 hours before she regained consciousness.

“She was just pointing at her stomach and she kept pointing at her stomach,” Pruitt said. “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.”

Pruitt spoke about the accident further in a Facebook post on Sunday.

The alleged hit-and-run driver was identifed as James Gilbert, 33. He was arrested by the Jones County Sheriff’s Office and charged with leaving the scene of an accident. Additional charges were pending. Meanwhile, he was free on $100,000 bond.