Relatives say the 18-year-old’s relationship had turned abusive before the March 9 shooting that left her daughter without a mother.
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — The death of Lemmarra Bradshaw, an 18-year-old pregnant mother shot in Philadelphia on March 9, has left her family publicly grieving while prosecutors pursue a manslaughter case against her boyfriend, Robert Tatum, in a killing relatives say followed a pattern of abuse and jealousy.
Bradshaw’s death has become more than a single-night crime story because relatives have described it as the deadly end of a troubled relationship that they say had grown more volatile in recent weeks. Tatum, 29, now faces charges including voluntary manslaughter as the case moves toward a March 30 hearing. At the same time, Bradshaw’s family is speaking openly about the 4-year-old daughter she left behind, the unborn child she was carrying and the emotional weight of what they say were missed chances to keep her safe.
Family members say Bradshaw had been in a long relationship with Tatum and that it became increasingly unstable before the shooting. Her aunt said there had been a violent incident about two weeks earlier, when Tatum allegedly punched Bradshaw in the face. Even after that, the aunt said, Bradshaw returned to him within a day. She described him as manipulative and said jealousy repeatedly drove conflict between the couple. Those remarks have helped shape the public understanding of the case, even as police and prosecutors have released only limited detail about the evidence. Bradshaw’s mother, Michelle Adekola, said the family is living with shock and regret. “I feel like I didn’t protect her enough,” she said, putting words to the kind of guilt that often follows sudden, violent loss in close families.
Bradshaw was pregnant with her second child when she was killed Monday night on the 7000 block of Langdon Street in the Rhawnhurst section of Northeast Philadelphia. Relatives say she also leaves behind a 4-year-old daughter, a fact that has deepened the family’s public mourning. In interviews, Adekola described a daughter whose life was still beginning and who was carrying a baby Tatum also fathered, according to the family’s account. She said she could not understand how an argument could end in gunfire against a pregnant woman. Police charged Tatum after the shooting, but many details remain unsettled in public. Investigators have said the gunfire broke out during an argument, while family members dispute how that argument should be understood and say the shooting cannot be separated from the broader history of conflict they witnessed.
One of the sharpest unresolved questions is what set off the final confrontation. Investigators have said the dispute involved a hamster that Adekola had recently bought for Bradshaw’s daughter. Bradshaw’s aunt gave a different explanation, saying the real issue was Tatum’s alleged cheating. She said Bradshaw had confronted him over infidelity and that tensions escalated from there. These competing versions matter because they frame the emotional climate around the shooting and may affect how jurors or a judge later interpret the violence. But neither version changes the basic loss now confronting the family. In statements shared publicly, relatives said the deaths of Bradshaw and her unborn baby devastated their family and community. Their memorial language presented her not only as a victim in a criminal case, but as a daughter, niece, cousin, friend and mother whose future ended suddenly.
The procedural side of the case is moving on a more fixed schedule. Tatum was arrested after the March 9 shooting and appeared for a preliminary arraignment on March 11. He faces voluntary manslaughter, possession of an instrument of crime with intent and reckless endangerment. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 30. That hearing is expected to provide a clearer public account of the evidence, though many details may still remain under dispute. Tatum has reportedly claimed Bradshaw approached him with a knife and a screwdriver before he fired. That claim has become a central part of the case because it points to a possible self-defense argument. Prosecutors, however, filed charges rather than closing the matter as justified force, which suggests they believe the circumstances warrant continued criminal proceedings and further review by the court.
Outside the courthouse, the family’s story has focused on absence and aftermath. Adekola said Bradshaw is the third child she has had to bury in recent years, a detail that gives the current loss even greater weight. Relatives have also worked to honor Bradshaw’s memory publicly, describing her death as an unimaginable loss and saying the legal process is only one part of what lies ahead for those who loved her. There is the practical reality of caring for the child Bradshaw leaves behind, the emotional task of explaining a mother’s death to a young daughter, and the public strain of seeing a private family tragedy discussed through charges, interviews and court dates. The neighborhood where the shooting happened may soon move back into routine, but for the family, the timeline is now measured by hearings, memorials and the slow accumulation of facts about Bradshaw’s final hours.
As of March 15, the case remained in its early stage, with Tatum charged and the next hearing set for March 30. Bradshaw’s family says its focus is now on mourning her life, supporting her daughter and learning more about the events that led to the shooting.
Author note: Last updated March 15, 2026.