Prayer vigil held for toddler severely hurt in SWAT raid

ATLANTA — A prayer vigil was held Monday morning for a Habersham County toddler severely burned in a SWAT raid.

Supporters gathered outside Grady Memorial Hospital where Bounkham Phonesavanh is preparing for another round of surgery.

During a raid last week, Phonesavanh’s family said a special response team with the Habersham Police Department threw a stun grenade in the child’s crib where he was sleeping. The incident happened when police tried to serve a no-knock warrant for a man believed to be serving drugs from the home.

The child's family is now demanding answers from Habersham police and prayers from the public.

“We just ask everybody to pray for our child. He’s not doing too good,” the child’s father, Boun Khan Phonesavanh, said in

In an interview this weekend, activists and attorneys told Channel 2 Action News the Phonesavanhs were treated unfairly.

“This family, overnight, has become the face of police brutality,” said activist Marcus Coleman.

In an induced coma, the toddler has lost the use of one lung and faces more surgeries.

WSBTV