PHOENIX — A 4-year-old Phoenix boy is recovering in the hospital after being shot in the face, and a suspect is in custody after what family members describe as a dispute over a breakup.
The boy, identified by his family as Qahsiem, underwent surgery and is now playing with toys in his hospital room, though his father says the child remains traumatized by the shooting.
On Tuesday morning, Phoenix police were called to an apartment complex near 32nd Street and Broadway Road for a shooting. That's where officers found the injured boy. He was rushed to a hospital for treatment of his injuries.
"Playing with his toys right now, still in shock, still traumatized a little bit," Meishaq Sinclair, father of the boy, said.
Sinclair was upstairs when he heard the gunshot and raced down to find his son bleeding heavily.
"He was bleeding so much it was like a movie," Sinclair said.
The boy was rushed to a hospital by ambulance.
Family tells ABC15 that the bullet entered and exited through Qahsiem's cheek, causing him to lose several teeth.
"Just by inches, my son would not be here by now. It's crazy, I thought that was my son's last breath. I thought that was it," Sinclair said.
ABC15 obtained video of the shooting from a neighbor that shows the moments the shot was fired.
Laresha Mason, Qahsiem's grandmother, said the shooter was upset about a breakup with someone in their family, and the situation escalated to gunfire.
"I was actually on the phone when the shot went off," Mason said.
Qahsiem was in the wrong place at the wrong time during the family dispute.
Late Wednesday night, Phoenix police announced that 29-year-old Joanna Chalup Cortez had turned herself in earlier in the day in connection with the shooting.
She now faces charges of aggravated assault and discharging a firearm at a residence.
The family of Qahsiem has created a GoFundMe account to help with medical expenses.
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