3-year-old wounded in Fort Worth drive-by shooting is out of hospital, walking again
The 3-year-old who was injured in a shooting at a west Fort Worth apartment complex has been released from the hospital, Star-Telegram media partner WFAA-TV reported.
Me’chelle Kinney was released Thursday and is walking again, according to WFAA.
She had to undergo multiple surgeries, including the removal of her right kidney, after being shot in a May 1 drive-by shooting outside the Miramar Apartments at 3064 Las Vegas Trail. Her older brother, 6-year-old Ka’deon, was released from the hospital May 3, KXAS-TV reported.
Doctors had to insert a metal plate in Ka’deon’s leg after a bullet from the shooting hit him in the femur, according to a GoFundMe organized by Emmilia Doyle for the family.
Me’chelle was the youngest victim and also the most seriously injured, police said. A bullet went through Me’chelle’s liver and punctured her right kidney and a blood vessel, Druscilla Rodriguez, the child’s mother, told KXAS.
A 14-year-old boy was grazed in the leg by a bullet, but he is OK, he told KXAS. Two more victims were taken to Cook Children’s Medical Center and a 19-year-old was transported to a local hospital.
According to MedStar, one patient was in critical condition, one in serious condition and three were in good condition with more minor injuries when they were transported by ambulance.
The aunt of the 19-year-old victim Tanzania Day spoke at a news conference Thursday at New Mount Rose Missionary Baptist Church in Fort Worth, where Day and the Kinney family were also in attendance.
Day suffered a gunshot wound to her right thigh and requires crutches to walk, according to WFAA.
“Just traumatizing,” said Day, KDFW-TV reported.
When asked to share her story, her aunt stepped in because Day still struggles with recounting the shooting, the report says.
“She came to stay with us after this happened. She wakes up screaming, hollering, crying,” Day’s aunt, Janiell Gray, said at the conference.
“The mental impact all of the children witnessed and suffered through the fear of losing their lives is something I could never imagine any child or human to ever have to experience,” said Rodriguez in the GoFundMe.
The Alliance for Children Advocacy Center is helping the victims heal, WFAA reported.
“It’s a very fluid process. So, you might feel like you’re doing OK at the moment, but then there might be something triggering that brings all of that back,” said Katia Gonzalez, with the Alliance for Children.
The fundraiser aims to help the Kinney family move out of the Miramar apartments and cover medical expenses for Me’chelle and Ka’deon. As of Thursday, $3,305 had been raised out of a $5,000 goal.
“That was all that was important, to see her walk out of the hospital,” said father Dontee Kinney.
Fort Worth police spokesperson Bradley Perez told the Star-Telegram on Friday that the investigation into the shooting is ongoing and investigators have identified a suspect vehicle.
