A pregnant woman’s life was forever changed when she woke up from a coma to learn that her boyfriend shot her in the head in an attempt to kill their unborn child. Now, he will spend the next six decades behind bars for the crime.
The DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office announced that Donald Wooten was sentenced to 60 years in prison on Wednesday, May 13, after he was convicted of attempted murder, criminal attempt to commit feticide and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in connection to shooting his former girlfriend.
The incident took place in March 2023 when Wooten, 27, attacked his girlfriend near a walking trail at Chapel Hill Park in Decatur, Georgia.
DeKalb County Police Department officers responded to the scene around 7 a.m. after they received a 911 call regarding an unresponsive woman near the walking trail. Officers then found the pregnant woman lying in the fetal position and she had a wound on the back of her head.
The victim was transported to a local hospital, where medical staffers determined she suffered a gunshot wound to her head and learned that she was 22 weeks pregnant.
The victim could not initially speak to detectives due to her incoherent state. However, the victim’s family told authorities that they suspected Wooten had shot her.
Wooten then spoke to police and he “informed detectives that he initially did not want the victim to have the child and he was upset that the victim chose to go through with the pregnancy,” according to an affidavit viewed by Law & Crime.
He also shared an alibi with detectives, claiming he was with a specific person at the time of the shooting. However, the person later denied knowing him.
“When they spoke with him over the phone, he told officers he’d gone to a movie with the victim the night before she was found, then back to the apartment complex where they both lived,” the DA’s office explained in its statement. “After parting ways, he said he went to his secondary apartment in Atlanta.”
Detectives found a receipt in the victim’s car and text messages that corroborated they went to the movies. However, location records from Wooten’s and the victim’s phones did not match Wooten’s claim that he traveled to the secondary apartment after the movie.
“Two months after she was shot, police were able to interview the victim at the hospital,” the DA’s office stated. “She recalled being at the park with the defendant late at night but did not remember being shot. The defendant was questioned again by police and reiterated the second version of his story. He was arrested without incident.”
While he was in jail, Wooten allegedly called a family member and asked them to wipe his cellphone. However, police were able to extract data from the phone before it was wiped.
“Messages between defendant Wooten and the victim revealed they were arguing over the pregnancy and their future together,” the DA’s office said. “In the days following the shooting, he sent messages asking someone to retrieve a gun and bullets from his apartment, and reminding someone to tell police they’d been together the night of the incident.”
The victim testified during Wooten’s trial, claiming that she drove herself and Wooten to the movie before they went back to their apartment complex. She then said that it was Wooten’s idea to go to Chapel Hill Park.
“The victim’s last memory is walking in the park with the defendant,” the DA’s office said.
Wooten received his sentence less than one month after he was found guilty on April 20.
