Monday, August 27, 2007
The baby and his mother have lived in the apartment for about two months, a neighbor said.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
CAMPBELL — Leajah Day, 11, and Zana Barnett, 10, played daily with the baby boy who was shot in his Jean Street apartment.
“We’ve been coming over and playing with him every day since they moved in about two months ago, I would say,” Leajah said.
“When we get ready to leave, he starts to cry,” Zana added.
The baby was shot about 6 a.m. Sunday by a bullet fired through the second-floor siding. A small hole was visible from outside of the apartment in the Michael J. Kirwan Homes.
People gathered Sunday night on the front and back stoops of their apartments. Children rode bikes and played outside.
Some residents walked over to the apartment where the baby lives, pointing out the bullet hole and discussing what they heard.
Theory
Police didn’t release the child’s name but said they believe the shooting was random.
Police said they got a call about 6 a.m. Sunday for gunfire on the street. When they arrived, a woman ran out of the apartment at 112 Jean, screaming that her baby had been shot.
The boy was listed in stable condition Sunday night at St. Elizabeth Health Center.
Leajah, who lives in one of the apartments across the street, said the victim, whom she said is named Cody, is a sweet little boy who likes to play outside on the swings and with his toy trucks. He’s about 1 year old, Leajah said.
Neither she nor Zana heard anything out of the ordinary when the shooting happened. They both learned of it from their mothers later Sunday.
“I heard my mom talking on the phone and she said that a little baby had gotten shot,” Zana said.
Leajah’s mother, Tamekia Cowart, bemoaned the tragedy. She and her family don’t live in the Kirwan homes because they want to, she said. They have to.