Girl with special needs victim of Katy-area road rage shooting
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The 9-year-old girl, who is non-verbal, now has a 6-inch scar on her head after the shooting on the Katy Freeway feeder road.
Video Transcript
JESSICA WILLEY: This little girl's mother says it is just not worth it. It's been such a traumatizing experience for everyone involved. The Sheriff's Office says the investigation is still ongoing. Meantime, nine-year-old Joellie, who has special needs, is recovering at home. Her mother says, getting better every day.
ARIANNA QUINTON: It's just so heartbreaking.
JESSICA WILLEY: Joellie Mejia has a 6-inch scar on her head, possibly a bruise to her brain, and who knows what other trauma inside.
ARIANNA QUINTON: As a mom, we don't like to see our kids in pain-- especially when she can't even describe her pain.
JESSICA WILLEY: The nine-year-old has Pitt Hopkins syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that delays development. Joellie is non-verbal, but Arianna Quinten says she knew immediately when her daughter was shot.
ARIANNA QUINTON: And that's how I knew that she got hit, because I looked to my left, and she was just looking at me, touching her head.
JESSICA WILLEY: It was Friday, February 5. Arianna says her boyfriend was driving on the I-10 feeder road in the Katy area. She was in the passenger seat. Joellie and her newborn sister were in the back. Arianna's boyfriend honked at a car to try to change lanes. The encounter escalated. The family was shot at two different times. Arianna says at least six bullets in their direction.
ARIANNA QUINTON: One bullet literally just went straight in front of me.
JESSICA WILLEY: And one hit Joellie.
ARIANNA QUINTON: 1 millimeter below, it would have done more damage than anything. She probably would have not even made it.
JESSICA WILLEY: Arianna says two men were involved. Only one, Kenneth Gray a father himself, has been arrested and charged.
ARIANNA QUINTON: I don't understand how you just would do that having a child of your own.
JESSICA WILLEY: A road rage that could have been deadly. Arianna protecting her daughter from the physical scars, covering up mirrors on her return home.
ARIANNA QUINTON: Because I didn't even want her to see herself, because she loves for me to do her hair every morning before going to school.
JESSICA WILLEY: Her little warrior, a strong little girl.
ARIANNA QUINTON: I do want Joellie to get justice.
JESSICA WILLEY: Jessica Willey, ABC 13, Eyewitness News.
