News

Actions

Aunt of Virginia 5-year-old shot in head hopes for conviction after arrest

Posted at 12:50 PM, Jun 10, 2019
and last updated 2019-06-10 12:51:18-04

HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- When you see recent videos or pictures of Kemiyah Edwards, it is hard to imagine what the five-year-old has been through over the past two months.

Photo provided by CBS 6.

“I’m telling you, this girl is blessed. She is seriously blessed,” Sherecka Harris, Kemiyah’s aunt, said. “She’s a fighter, she’s strong-willed."

Even the kindergartener’s helmet that she has to wear 24 hours a day is decorated with stickers.

"We had to do something to give her her cuteness, her sassiness back, so the stickers help,” Harris said.

Kemiyah was shot in the head after someone fired into her Byron Street home in April, according to CBS 6.

"A bullet does not have any name on it,” Harris said. “She was in her home sitting on the sofa."

Henrcio Police announced an arrest in the case Sunday after 20-year old Derick Walton Jr. was charged with six felonies that include aggravated malicious wounding and shooting from a vehicle.

"We’re very happy it came to this. We’re hoping for a conviction, not just an arrest, but a conviction."

At the time, police sources said the location of the shooting was not random.

However, Kemiyah's aunt said she does not know Walton, but has seen firsthand the pain the shooting continues to cause.

"That he pays for the trauma he has caused, not only to Kemiyah, but to the community and to her family.”

Kemiyah is out of the hospital, but her family said more surgeries are on the horizon.

Her aunt is blown away at Kemiyah's recovery so far and her attitude.

"We had a lot of prayers, a lot of people praying for her, and coming through and praying with us,” Harris said. “A lot of hope came in with that, and look at her, she's a fighter.”