*”My baby did not deserve to be shot, especially by the police,” said Daisha Smalls, the mother of a 1-year-old who was shot in the head as police fired at a suspect attempting to hijack her car.
Smalls told her story Tuesday (March 16) at a press conference alongside her attorney, Ben Crump. She explained that she was pumping gas on March 3 when she heard police sirens blaring in the distance. Smalls said she was sitting inside of her vehicle with her son, Legend, in the backseat, when a man approached and told her to get out of the car.
“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,” Smalls told reporters, adding that the man then sat on her lap and tried to take the vehicle. The police then shot into her car, killing the suspect on top of her and injuring Legend when a bullet entered his head, Small’s attorney, Ben Crump said.
Smalls tearfully tells her story below:
Houston police, according to a March 4 statement from Executive Assistant Police Chief Troy Finner, claim that Smalls was not in the car when the shooting took place.
The 30-year-old shooting victim was a suspect in two aggravated robberies who was being chased by police when he jumped out of a car he crashed during the chase. The suspect, armed with a gun, then entered Smalls’ car. After he refused commands to drop the weapon, officers fired several shots at him and he died at the scene. The baby boy was also shot, Finner said, adding he wasn’t sure if officers at the scene knew the baby was in the car, but they administered first aid to both the suspect and the baby.
The officer who fired the shot that hit the baby is a 15-year veteran of HPD and is “deeply concerned” about the baby and his mother. He has been placed on administrative duty while the investigation continues, Finner said.
“Please keep lifting this child and family in prayer,” Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo tweeted Tuesday morning.
Crump said Legend has been on a ventilator for 10 days. Smalls said the bullet was removed from her son’s head along with the right side of his skull, but bullet fragments remain. Legend has also had more than 10 seizures, Crump said.
“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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