NEW ORLEANS — When you put your child to bed, you expect them to be safe.
That comfort was stolen from a New Orleans mother Saturday when a bullet went through her 9-year-old daughter’s window in the 7th Ward.
“She said she was sleeping when the bullet hit her,” the mother, who asked not to be identified, said. “So, she got up and checked her leg and discovered that she had a hole in her leg. She started screaming in panic and fear and my niece rushed her to the hospital.”
Police say the shooting occurred around 1 a.m. in the 1900 block of N. Prieur Street. The bullet was a stray, meant for someone else.
The victim’s mother said she has no idea where the bullet came from or who shot it. The only thing she knows is that her daughter is still in pain – physically and emotionally.
“She just keeps crying,” she said. “Every time she talks about it. She just keeps crying.”
Her mother told us that she loves dancing and would have gone to a dance class Saturday morning if not for the shooting. Now, with the bullet still lodged in her leg, she’s struggling to get around.
“They say she’s going to be fine. And I was like, how can y’all leave a bullet in her leg? She’s just 9 years old. She’s not going to be fine,” she said.
Down the street, neighbor Christy Morgan is thankful that the 9-year-old girl wasn’t killed. She knows the pain of losing a child.
“The only thing I can say is -- with me losing a child, I lost everything,” Morgan said. “When you lose a child that’s like taking your whole heart out you.”
Sadly, she’s not alone.
Earlier this week, Byron Kelly Jr., a 7th grader at Phyllis Wheatley Elementary was shot and killed near Taylor Park in Central City.
His family says he was walking home. Another child hit by a stray bullet.
“I feel sorry for the women losing babies at an early age through gun violence,” she said. “Just being in the midst of a wrong person that you passing by you can get a bullet.”
A dangerous reality, even for a 9-year-old girl tucked in her bed.
Police have not named any suspects in the shooting. If you have any information, call CRIMESTOPPERS at 504-822-1111.
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