The 9-year-old named Amanda Chauan has been the third child victim of gunfire this month alone in New York. The Bronx girl was playing on Bailey Avenue & West 234th Street in Kingsbridge in a parking lot at approximately 9:30 p.m. when shots were fired from a man riding a bicycle. Unfortunately, witnesses on the scene reported that Chauan was hit in her stomach from the crossfire, causing a serious and almost fatal wound.
The alleged shooter is being identified as 17-year-old Billy James Jr. Police have not yet questioned James, but they are currently on the prowl for the young man. Crime Stoppers, NYPD, and the Mayor’s Office are offering a $22,000 reward if any information on the shooting can be brought to their attention.
Although Amanda Chauan had a high chance of being permanently paralyzed from the shooting, she apparently sat up in her hospital bed on Thursday–proving that she is a fighter.
Earlier in this month, 14-year-old D’aja Robinson was fatally shot on a bus in Queens. Just two weeks after that, Tayloni Mazck, an 11-year-old Brooklyn girl, was the victim of crossfire after getting hit in the neck in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
We will be praying for all of these young children and their families.
