On March 3, Daisha Smalls was pumping gas when Houston police officers fired at her car in attempt to stop a robbery suspect. The suspect, who was killed during the incident, entered Smalls’s vehicle and officers were afraid he would injure her. They shot at the car and hit Smalls’ one-year-old son, Legend, in the head.
Legend’s uncle, Quellan Lancaster, created a GoFundMe page to offset the costs of his nephew’s recovery, $113,000 of its $200,000 goal as of April 9th.
According to a study by researchers at the Children’s National Hospital on children who died from police intervention by firearm, Black children are six times more likely to be shot and killed by police than white children.
Following the near-fatal shooting, Legend had to have the right side of his skull removed and during his hospitalization spent over 10 days on a ventilator and had several seizures.
“He still has bullet fragments in his head, and he’s in intensive care,” said Daisha. “And I just want my baby to be safe. … I just want him to recover.”
The family’s attorney, Ben Crump, accused officers of endangering innocent people through the reckless shooting. Although officers claimed to be unaware of Legend’s presence in the car, Crump stated that they still knew that Daisha was.
“The objectiveness is that there are innocent people in the line of fire,” said Crump. “And clearly the Houston police did not know their target, because they hit Legend squarely in the skull. Not a graze wound.”
Despite the severity of the wound, Legend was able to survive but he has a lengthy recovery in front of him.