Pregnant Chicago Teen Eva Casara Fatally Shot On Christmas Day, Baby Miraculously Survives [UPDATES]

Charges Filed In Pregnant Teen's Fatal Christmas Day Shooting

A pregnant 17-year-old girl was fatally shot in Chicago's south suburbs on Christmas night, but doctors successfully saved the girl's unborn baby daughter.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Eva Casara of Chicago was found gunned down in the snow between two homes about 8 p.m. in the 1100 block of East 152nd Street in Dolton, Ill. She had been shot once in the back of the head.

UPDATE Dec. 29 -- Casara's 16-year-old boyfriend, Anthony Lee, and Lee's 21-year-old brother, Diante Lamont Coakley, have been charged in the pregnant teen's murder, according to NBC Chicago. Officials say the fatal shooting was the result of a drug-related robbery that "spiraled out of control" and do not believe Casara was the intended target.

Police said Saturday they are still looking for one more suspect who allegedly participated in the shooting.

Earlier, police said they believe Casara was shot somewhere nearby before being brought to where she was found, WGN reports. She may have been there for as long as 40 minutes before being discovered.

Casara died Thursday morning at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where doctors were able to save the teen's baby, who was born between 22 and 25 weeks into the pregnancy, the Chicago Tribune reports.

The baby girl, who has been named Laylani, was born weighing just 1 pound and 5 ounces, according to CBS Chicago, and is in critical condition.

Casara's family was left desperate for answers in the hunt for the teen's killer.

"She's just a shining light. Anywhere she goes, she lights up the place. She's so beautiful, inside as she is outside. Everybody loved her, she had a good heart," Estrellita Casara, Eva's mother, told ABC Chicago of her daughter.

"Please, somebody, anybody, help me with my baby," she continued.

An investigation into the fatal shooting, the Chicago suburb's first of the year, continues. Anyone with information is urged to contact Dolton police at (708) 201-3200.

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