A 1-year-old boy remains in critical condition two weeks after being shot in the head by Houston police officers who opened fire on a armed robbery suspect attempting to carjack the mother’s vehicle with the child in the back seat.
The shooting on March 3 killed the 30-year-old fugitive, but also left Legend Smalls “fighting for his life” and on a ventilator for more than 10 days in an intensive care unit, reports said.
Surgeons removed the right side of the boy’s skull to retrieve the bullet, although shrapnel fragments remain embedded in his head.
The baby’s mother, Daisha Smalls, said she was sitting inside her car while fueling at a gas station when a man appeared and ordered her to get out. As police sirens blared nearby, and with her child inside, Smalls refused to hand over the keys.
“I wouldn’t give him my car because I let him know that I have a child in my car and that I would not leave my car without my son,” she said at a Tuesday news conference alongside her attorney Ben Crump. Next she said the man, who was wanted in two aggravated robberies, forced himself inside the car and sat on her lap.
Moments later police arrived and confronted the suspect, who had crashed a getaway car and fled on foot, only to find himself at the gas station where Smalls and her son were sitting.
The man, who was not identified by name, refused to drop his weapon and police opened fire.
“Before I knew what happened they were already shooting at my car and I was just scared for my son’s life,” Smalls said Tuesday.
One shot from the barrage hit the baby.
“My baby didn’t deserve this, my baby didn’t deserve to be shot, especially not by the police,” Smalls said. “I just want my baby to be safe. I just want my baby to be healthy.”
The day after the shooting, Executive Assistant Police Chief Troy Finner gave a statement saying Smalls was not in the car at the time of the shooting, and that officers may have also been unaware of the boy’s presence.
Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo on Tuesday posted a statement to Twitter, where he expressed sympathy for the young child.
“Fearing for the mother’s safety, one of our officers discharged his duty weapon, fatally striking the suspect,” Acevedo said. “Sadly, baby Legend was also struck. Officers at the scene immediately rendered first aid to Legend.”
He added that he and Finner had visited the boy in the hospital.
“We are hoping and praying for the full and speedy recovery of little one-year-old Legend Smalls,” Acevedo said.
The officer who fired the shot that hit Legend is a 15-year veteran of the force who was said to be “deeply concerned” about the child’s recovery, reports said.
He has been placed on administrative duty as the investigation continues, according to Finner.
Meanwhile, Legend has been struggling to breathe on his own and has suffered more than 10 seizures, Crump said at the Tuesday briefing, adding that the boy was “still fighting for his life.”
“Why would they shoot knowing she was in the car? Not knowing who else was in the car. There could have been children, there could’ve been others in the car, but they shot,” Crump said. “Regrettably and tragically, little Legend will live the rest of his life with the consequences of their decision to shoot into his mama’s car even though they knew she was in there.”
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