DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A 22-year-old father has been arrested in connection to the shooting death of a pregnant woman, the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office said Monday.
Investigators said they arrested Diamonte Oiy’Shawn Haithcoats. The Stone Mountain man was taken into custody without incident outside a barber shop on Memorial Drive in Decatur, the sheriff's office said.
Haithcoats is being charged with malice murder in connection to the murder of Shaniyah Monet Rodriguez, which happened on Feb. 2 in the Brannon Hill condominium community, according to the sheriff's office.
Rodriguez was seven months pregnant with Haithcoats' child at the time of her death. Rodriguez and Haitcoats had lived together in the victim's mother's home, the sheriff's office said.
Authorities said Rodriguez was found unresponsive with a gunshot wound to her head.
Adrienne Rodriguez is heartbroken from losing her daughter, Shaniyah Rodriguez. Adrienne said she treated Haitcoats like a son.
"You called me mom," she said. "I opened my door to you because you had nowhere to go."
Now, the family is hopeful Shaniyah’s baby makes a full recovery.
"She's fighting. She's fighting," Adrienne said.
Adrienne said she's also fighting to make sure the justice system doesn't fail them this time around.
"My oldest son was killed eight years ago on his 13th birthday while I sleep in the bed," she said.
Adrienne said she knows all too well, an arrest doesn't always lead to a conviction. She said her son's alleged killer was acquitted of murder in 2017.
"I'm hoping for justice to prevail. It didn't the first go around," she said. "Give me a reason to have faith in the system again. They have. He has to be held accountable. Like, I can't go through that again where nobody is held accountable."
Haithcoats was taken into custody to the DeKalb County Jail, where he's being held without bond.
