Foster mom of 7-year-old shot by stray bullet says new home was supposed to be a better place

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A foster mother said a 7-year-old girl is fighting to live after someone shot her in the head while watching a movie.

She told Channel 2's Michael Seiden she doesn't know why the shooter picked her home.

“How could someone do this? Just drive by and shoot someone’s house like that?” the foster parent, who did not want to be identified, said.

“Do you fear for your own life now?” Seiden asked.

“Oh yeah. I’m not even sure I want to go back and this is somewhere that I lived for at least over 15 years,” she responded.

The woman is staying with family and friends because, right now, DeKalb county police are searching for a shooter who sprayed bullets all over her Ellenwood home late Friday night.

“There was about 26 holes all over the place,” the woman said.

One of those bullets struck a 7-year-old girl in the back of the head. It happened while the child was sitting on the couch watching a movie inside her new foster home on Satellite Boulevard.

“The last thing I heard is she’s critical and she hasn’t regained consciousness yet,” the woman said.

TRENDING STORIES

• Tiger Woods claims first Masters in 14 years, first major since 2008
• 'We're gonna keep this light burning': Funeral held for Henry mother, son
• Substitute teacher fired after taking bullets to preschool class

The little girl’s foster mother wasn’t home at the time of the shooting.

“I took my son and my grandbaby up the street to their other grandparents and it might’ve been 20 minutes later, my niece called me screaming, ‘Come back! Come back! The house is being shot up!’” she said.

The young and innocent victim had only been living there for two weeks, but she had already gotten comfortable with her new surroundings.

“She started calling me ‘Mimi,’” the woman said. “That’s what my other grandchildren call me.”

The woman is a grieving grandmother who was working to give the child a better life, only for it to be ruined by gun violence.

“It was supposed to have been a better place for her and then to see this happen to her, it’s very devastating,” the woman said.

It's routine for the Division of Family and Children Services to investigate. Seiden reached out to the department, but they haven’t returned his emails or calls.

In the meantime, the foster parent is calling on the community for prayers. She's also set up a GoFundMe page to cover several expenses.

Cox Media Group