Police are searching for the suspect who fatally shot a young mother in Richmond, California, as her two children watched from the backseat of her car. Authorities say 29-year-old Rashanda Franklin was killed Tuesday morning on a Richmond street by her estranged ex-boyfriend, 43-year-old Lawyer Dushan McBride of San Pablo.
Investigators believe McBride ambushed Franklin as she was driving her children to school. Surveillance footage shows McBride walking away and then driving off moments after the shooting. Police say he fled the scene in a 2007 silver Mercedes-Benz S550 with paper plates. “If there’s a wife, family member out there, you know him, you know where he’s at — turn him in, according to the San Jose Mercury News.
That could have been your child,” pleaded Franklin’s mother, Barbara Harris. “There’s nothing else to say; her life was just stripped from her this morning.” According to police, Franklin was stopped at the intersection of 29th and Rheem Streets when McBride cut her off. Witnesses reported hearing the two arguing before McBride allegedly shot Franklin once in the upper body
“The children were in the backseat and saw it all,” said Lt. Felix Tan of the Richmond Police Department. “Witnessing your own mother being killed — my heart breaks for those kids.” Neighbors rushed to help, pulling Franklin’s children from the vehicle and taking them into a nearby home before police arrived. “They cry,” said neighbor Salvador Realagno. “I feel it was very sad.”
Franklin’s aunt, Ummu Ikharo-Oza, described the family’s heartbreak. “Those kids loved their mom, I know for sure,” she said. “How do you explain to a young kid, ‘Your mom ain’t coming back, somebody took her life.’” Police are urging the public to come forward with any information about McBride’s whereabouts. They believe he may still be in the Bay Area and warn that he should be considered armed and dangerous.
“We are doing everything we can to find him,” Lt. Tan said. “This was a senseless act of violence that left two young children without their mother.” As investigators continue to search for McBride, Franklin’s family and friends are grieving the sudden loss of a devoted mother whose life was taken in an act of domestic violence.
“What I need is to lift this family up, and her three boys up to God,” Harris said through tears. Anyone with information about McBride or the silver Mercedes-Benz is urged to contact Richmond police immediately.