Man indicted in pregnant woman’s death

A Baton Rouge man was indicted Wednesday in the March 1 shooting death of a 23-year-old pregnant mother of two on Washington Avenue near Plank Road.

An East Baton Rouge Parish grand jury charged Elijah Smith, 22, 9426 Thayer Ave., with second-degree murder in the killing of Kayla Selders.

Selders’ family members have said a fight over a car CD player was the possible motive for the shooting. They suspect she was shot after trying to recover about $80 for the device she had sold to a man she knew.

Police found Selders dead in the driver’s seat of her car at 7:35 p.m. in the 2800 block of Washington. A 32-year-old man, identified by Selders’ family as her boyfriend, was sitting in the passenger seat at the time of the shooting, police said. He was shot in the shoulder, Selders’ family members said.

If convicted of second-degree murder, Smith would be sentenced to life in prison.

The grand jury also indicted him on an attempted second-degree murder charge.

The case has been assigned to state District Judge Trudy White.