JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A 12-year-old Brunswick boy is fighting for his life after another child shot him in the head Monday with a BB gun, his family said Wednesday.
Ashantae Hill said even though her son, Elijah, remains unresponsive on life support at Wolfson Children's Hospital, she is not giving up hope that he could pull through.
She told News4Jax the shooting happened shortly before 1:30 p.m. Monday at a neighbor's home in Brunswick. Elijah was airlifted to Jacksonville with critical injuries.
HELP ELIJAH: Visit the family's GoFundMe page
Hill said Elijah was playing with another child when the other boy put a BB gun to her son's head and squeezed the trigger. She was at work when she found out.
"I just broke down," said Hill. "To see my baby just being airlifted, like, I couldn't really see him so that just made me even more nerve-wracked because I didn't know what was going on."
She said she drove to Jacksonville afterward and has been by her son's bedside ever since.
"I am very terrified. I am 29 years old. I had my baby at 17. That's my first born and it's not a good feeling at all," said Hill.
The BB traveled through Elijah's brain and remains lodged in his skull. His mother said doctors are waiting for the swelling to subside to determine whether surgeons can safely remove it.
The other child, meanwhile, was charged with aggravated assault and taken to a juvenile detention facility. It's unclear whether he knew the gun was loaded.
Hill is asking for prayers in the hopes her son will survive.
"We're going to stay positive, so I'm looking for a good outcome right now. We're just praying to God right now and... we just need everybody to pray with me," she said.
The family has set up a GoFundMe to help defray the costs of his treatment. To learn more about Elijah's plight or contribute to his cause, just visit this page.