Woman Convicted in Murder of Pregnant Mom Shot Dead Hours Before She Was Set to Give Birth

A North Carolina woman is heading to prison for her role in the murder of a pregnant mother.

Tammy Duckworth Boone, 52, appeared in Burke County Superior Court on murder charges following the death of Brandi Deal, a mother of three who was just hours away from giving birth when she was brutally shot in 2023, according to a release from the Burke County Sheriff’s Office.

The judge in the case dismissed the murder charges against Boone, however, at which point she entered a guilty plea to charges of discharging a firearm into an occupied dwelling from a moving vehicle and obstruction of justice, according to records from the North Carolina Dept. of Adult Corrections.

Boone will now serve a minimum sentence of 55 months in prison for her role in the fatal attack.

On the day of her death, Deal had been at home when Dylan Rogers opened fire on her trailer while passing by in a car driven by Boone, according to the BCSO.

Rogers fired the gun into the trailer because of a “personal dispute,” according to a news release from the Burke County Office of the District Attorney.

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Deal’s boyfriend then called 911 to report that a person was in cardiac arrest, and deputies arrived to find that Deal had been shot multiple times, according to the BCSO.

Rogers is currently serving a life sentence after being convicted of second-degree murder and murder of an unborn child following a two-week trial that wrapped up last month in Burke County.

“This tragic case has weighed heavily on our community since the day it occurred more than two years ago. The defendant fired a shotgun into a home, showing complete disregard for human life, all because he was angry over a personal dispute,” 36th Prosecutorial District Attorney Scott Reilly said in a statement at the time of Rogers’ conviction.

He added: “Today, justice was served. The jury’s verdict holds the defendant accountable for his actions, and the court’s sentence of life without parole reflects the seriousness of these crimes. No sentence can ever replace the lives lost or heal the pain felt by the victim’s family, but I hope this verdict brings some measure of closure.”

Detectives identified Rogers and Boone as suspects in the case after they “interviewed multiple people about the shooting deaths and reviewed video surveillance footage from nearby cameras that showed the residence where Deal was shot and killed,” the BCODA said in a release.

The BCSO then arrested the two five days after the murder and ordered them held without bail.

Rogers and Boone are now in the process of being moved from the Burke County Jail to North Carolina Adult Corrections facilities.