Stacey Jones, 35, had moved to Chicago about two years ago to follow her career in criminal justice.

The Chicago mother of two with another one on the way worked as a Cook County probation officer since 2019. 

The 35-year-old woman, who grew up mostly in Tennessee, was found with two gunshots in her back on her Chicago porch early Tuesday, October 13, 2020, police said. Doctors were able to deliver her baby, who is in critical condition.

“My daughter was a hardworking single parent. She was a devoted mother. She put (her children) in all kinds of activities, karate, baseball, wrestling. She took them to the zoo. She did everything she could for them with the money she had,” her father Tommy Baker told the Chicago Tribune. “When she picked them up (in August), she took the time to visit all the family members who had helped me care for them in the summer. Family was everything to her, especially her boys.”

The mother, who was eight months pregnant, was at her home on the city's South side when tragedy struck in the middle of the night.

Law enforcement authorities say Jones was shot at least twice in the back just after midnight on Tuesday, October 13, 2020.

Witnesses told local media that they heard the gunshots, which went off in rapid succession.

"They weren't quick shots, we heard three measured shots, and whoever did it, wanted to do it," neighbor Elliott Cobb told the local CBS affiliate.

"No screaming, no noise, just two shots," said Alan Jones, neighbor, told the TV station.

They said that the neighborhood has never had anything like this to happen before and Jones, who had been living there about a year, didn't  have any problems at home. 

"She's got a girl and a boy," Jones told the TV station.

Responding officers found her unresponsive on her porch. She was rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors were able to deliver her baby, who was in critical condition.

Doctors were unable to save Jones, according to media reports.

Chicago police continue to investigate the fatal shooting. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, a racial slur and the letters “KKK” had been spray-painted on the side of Stacey Jones’ home, but it was unclear it had been there.

“At this time, based on information and additional evidence gathered by detectives, we do not believe this crime was racially motivated or a random act,” CPD spokesman Thomas Ahern told the Sun-Times.

The baby, a boy, continues to fight for his life.