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1 dead from Thursday night shooting

The woman who was rushed to UPMC Williamsport Thursday night after she was shot in her Louisa Street home died at the medical center soon after she arrived there, city police said.

Jimia Alston, 31, of 506 Louisa St., died on the operating table about 7:55 p.m., Lycoming County Coroner Charles E. Kiessling Jr. confirmed.

She was shot about 6:40 p.m. Investigators declined to comment on the extent of her injuries.

She was a mother of five children, who were in the house at the time, but they were not injured, a friend who knew Alston well and was in the area when the shooting took place, said.

“I heard a pop. At first I thought it was fireworks, but then realized it sounded more like a small caliber handgun,” the friend, who did not give a name, told a reporter the day after the shooting.

“She cared so much for her babies. This just breaks my heart,” the friend, fighting back tears, said, adding that Alston’s life and love revolved around her children.

“She was a loving mother, a light-hearted person, easy going,” the friend said.

“This was completely unnecessary. She did not deserve this,” the friend said, adding that she went in the house after the shooting and saw Alston on the floor.

“Her children don’t have a mom now. This will impact them for the rest of their lives,” she said.

An autopsy on Alston’s body was done Friday at the Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown.

Officers were dispatched to the home for a shooting victim, city Police Chief Damon Hagan said Friday afternoon.

The victim “was lying inside the home suffering from a gunshot wound,” Hagan said.

She was taken by ambulance to the hospital, about two blocks away.

Officers were seen bringing the children, one under the age of 2, safely out of the home.

“We are not prepared to say anything else about the details (of the homicide) right now,” Hagan said.

He declined comment if police knew the motive behind the shooting or if Alston and the gunman knew one another.

When asked if it was a home invasion, again he declined to say.

“In an effort to protect the integrity of the investigation, we’re not prepared to release more details,” Hagan said.

This was the second city homicide in the city in 10 days.

Hagan said investigators do not believe the two deadly shootings are at related.

“Everything that can be done (to solve these homicides) is being done,” Hagan said.

No one has been charged in the Campbell Street homicide, which happened just about five blocks from Thursday night’s homicide scene.

“I have every reason to believe that both investigations will be brought to a successful conclusion and will be solved at some point,” Hagan said.

“All (law enforcement) resources have been made available to us in this area to assist with the investigations,” he added. Several county detectives are working the case.

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