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Fulton ADA speaks out for first time after being shot multiple times by husband

ATLANTA — A Fulton County assistant district attorney is talking for the first time after she was shot three times by her husband.

April McConnell has been in rehab for almost two months after the shooting incident in April. She was one of two people shot inside a car outside a home on Fairway Circle in southwest Atlanta.

Trenard McConnell, April's husband, was discovered dead next to a pond at a cemetery the day of the shooting.  Investigators believe Trenard McConnell shot himself with a handgun.

McConnell told Channel 2 investigative reporter  Mark Winne she has come a long way in the last couple of months.

One of the bullets that struck McConnell went through her back and hit her spinal cord.

McConnell said she has been working on building her arm strength because she has no use of her legs and has no feeling from her chest down.  

"We're kind of focusing on learning how to adapt to what I can use," McConnell said.

Doctors told McConnell that it is possible she may regain use of her legs, but it's not likely.

McConnell spoke to Winne about her relationship with her husband leading up to the shooting.

"The separation, which happened in January, at the beginning of the year, changed him," McConnell said.

She said he was never abusive physically to her, or mentally degrading or demeaning to her.

McConnell said she never thought that her husband would shoot her.

"I never believed this would've happened. I never ever would've predicted this," McConnell said. "I looked over to my right out the passenger window and I just saw the chest, the torso of my husband standing there. I never saw his face but I saw his arm lift up and I think for a second I almost thought he had a gun, but I don't remember seeing a gun."

McConnell said she remembers bits and pieces of the incident before blacking out.

 "I kept thinking 'What in the world? He wouldn't shoot me. What's going on?'" McConnell said. "I blacked out and when I came back to, the ambulance team was there."

"It wasn't until I had a conversation with my dad here months after this happened that I realized how close to death I really was," said McConnell.

Now, nearly two months after the shooting, McConnell said she has made great progress with her recovery and plans to go back to work as soon as she can.

"I will be back in the courtroom. I have every intention of going back to work," McConnell told Winne.

McConnell has been part of the APS prosecution team at the Fulton County District Attorney's Office for nearly two years.

She says that she has daily conversations with members of the team as the case continues to move forward in the court system.

McConnell told Winne she is expected to leave rehab in mid-July. She will then continue with therapy on a regular basis and start returning to work.

Despite everything McConnell has gone through, she still remains positive about her progress and finds everyday as a gift.

"I want people to know that life is a blessing and every breath you breathe, every step you take, every day you can get up and brush your own teeth, comb your own hair, it's a blessing and not to take it for granted," McConnell said.