OAKLAND (KRON) – Friends are in mourning after a pregnant Oakland mother was gunned down in front of her home Saturday.
The woman killed, Misty Smith Walton, was a PTA President and beloved by the education community.
“It’s a sad loss and we’re in mourning, um, today because she was a jewel. She was a gem,” Kenia Johnson, paraeducator, said.
Oakland educators responded to the murder of the mother of two young boys.
“She was an awesome mom who was dedicated to her children and who spent time at the school, um, not only with just her own children, she helped with all children, and wherever was needed throughout the school,” Johnson said.
Smith Walton was shot to death outside her 65th Avenue apartment on Saturday evening.
Her husband was also wounded.
The person or persons responsible remains on the loose.
“It’s just outrageous that anyone would resort to this kind of violence and think that this was the right thing to do. This kind of thing here in Oakland has to stop,” John Sasaki said.
Oakland School District Spokesman John Sasaki says Smith Walton was serving a second year as PTA President at Carl B. Munck Elementary School.
“For years before that, with her kids at the school, uh she was very active in classroom, she was there helping out in the office, whatever the principle or anybody else on campus needed, she was always there. She was someone who was very dedicated to her children and really to the entire community, so this is a devastating loss for that school community and OUSD,” Sasaki said.
Making a tragic story even worse is the fact that Smith Walton was five months pregnant when she was killed.
“We were waiting to see this baby be born and coming to kindergarten, going to Carl B. Munck, you know, she was just a valuable asset, like one of our own, like our daughters, our daughter here,” Johnson said.
At this point, Oakland police are offering no information about possible suspects or a possible motive.
A Go Fund Me online fundraiser has been set up for the woman’s children.