Child paralyzed after Atlanta shooting, mother says

ATLANTA — Instead of enjoying his summer with family and friends, 12-year-old Ja’Quavious Davis remains bedridden in the hospital.

The young boy was with his older brother when he was shot last Friday evening on the street at the intersection of Florida Avenue SW and MLK Jr Drive SW. Atlanta police said they found him on the ground, shot in the arm and stomach. He has been in the hospital ever since.

“Seeing him in pain makes me cry almost all day, every day,” Davis’ mother said.

She spoke with 11Alive outside the hospital five days after the shooting. We are not naming her for the safety of their family. While her son struggles with pain, the 12-year-old shows resilience and tries to recover.

“He can’t feel his legs and stuff. He can’t feel anything except his upper body, and they say when you get hit like that where the bullet is in his back, he’s paralyzed,” declared his mother.

Her youngest son was robbed of his youth in seconds as the bullets flew. Moments after it happened, his older brother called their mother for help.

“He turned around and said he was shot. It was like, ‘Hurry up, mom, he was shot,'” she said.

Video captured just after the shooting shows police responding and people surrounding the child, trying to get him help.

“When he was first shot, he was like, ‘Mom! I’m fine, Mom. I’m fine!’ So he really thought he was fine, not knowing he was in a critical condition,” she said.

As she stays by his side in the hospital, she prays that he will be able to walk again and not be permanently paralyzed.

“I’m confident it will work,” she said.

But she said she needed and wanted whoever put her in danger to be arrested and taken off the streets.

“I hate them. It’s no, ‘I’ll forgive.’ There’s no understanding. You’ve hurt a lot of people, and they don’t understand that. They should be afraid because I’m a parent that I’m not letting go of at all,” she said.

Ja’Quavious’s mother is able to get him the help he needs because of the support she has received from the community. Even some prominent artists in the community have stepped up. If you would like to help them, you can find their fundraiser here.

11Alive asked Atlanta police on Wednesday if an arrest had been made, but police said the investigation into who made the arrest was still ongoing. No arrests have been made, so if you know anything, APD would like to hear from you.