The Heartbreaking Story of How This Las Vegas Man Left a 6-Year-Old Girl Paralyzed
A Las Vegas man was sentenced to a maximum of 11 years in prison after firing his gun through a wall that left a 6-year-old Black girl paralyzed.
Arreion Willoughby, 31, said in his sentencing hearing Monday that he was in doing laundry when his gun went off by accident. However, Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney Dena Rinetti accused 31-year-old of intentionally aiming his firearm at his bedroom wall, which bordered the apartment where little Draya Ransey are her family lived.
After the gun went off, Ransey was found on the bathroom floor in a pool of blood after the bullet lodged in her neck, per 8NewsNow. When officers went to search for where the bullet came from, Rinetti claimed Willoughby fled the home with a bag.
Though, when he encountered the officers, he insisted that “nothing happened” and that he didn’t own a gun, per the arrest report. Prosecutors said surveillance footage appeared to dispute that claim.
Read more about it from 8NewsNow:
Through the warrant, officers obtained surveillance footage that showed four children in the apartment and Willoughby walking around. In the video, Willoughby was seen standing in front of a bed, appearing to be holding and pointing something. He was seen facing and walking toward the area of the bedroom where the bullet hole was found, according to police.
A loud bang was then heard and his body visibly flinched, stepped back and away from the area. Children were then seen peeking out of their bedroom to investigate the loud noise, the report said.
One of the children who was in the apartment reported hearing a loud pop while sleeping but thought it was a frozen burrito in the microwave. She then heard someone banging on the front door, according to police. Willoughby answered the door and a teenager started yelling that the neighbor needed help.
Draya’s mother, Porschia, told reporters the bullet severed her daughter’s spinal cord, and she had to be placed on a ventilator. Draya is still in recovery, now wheelchair bound. However, her family is told she may never walk again.
“I beat myself up because my baby should not be laying in that bed, the fact that she can’t dance with me like she used to, the fact that she can’t run to me and give me hugs when I come home from work,” said Gregory Harris, Draya’s father, via 8NewsNow.
Willoughby apologized and asked for the Ranseys’ forgiveness before being sentenced to four to 11 years in prison on seven counts of child neglect and child abuse resulting substantial bodily harm, the report said. The additional counts are in reference to the other children who were in the area when the shot was fired.
