MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A 10-month-old boy wounded at a Tennessee mall last month is recovering, and the Memphis Police Department is making sure the child has a happy Christmas.
Jaylen Hill was shot five times while his father carried him through the parking lot of the Oak Court Mall in Memphis, WHBQ-TV reported. His father, Jayson Hill, 21, died but the boy survived, the television station reported. He was taken to an area hospital and is recovering.
His mother, Danielle Barnes, is hoping the boy will be released in time for his first birthday in February.
Jaylen Hill is spending Christmas in the hospital, so Memphis police officers chipped in and gave the boy some gifts, WHBQ reported.
“Thank you, thank you so much,” Barnes said when she went to the Tillman police station in Memphis to pick up the gifts for her son.
Memphis Police Officer Lynnette Sutton was the first to respond when the boy and his father were shot at the mall.
“Having a connection with the child, holding him that day with the other two women, it just stayed on my heart forever,” Sutton told WHBQ. “I continued to think about it every day.”
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Sutton gathered diapers, a car seat and toys for the child, according to the television station.
“Thank you. I love y’all. Y’all my family,” Barnes told the officers.
And Jaylen continues to improve, which makes his mother happy.
“He’s a happy baby. He ain’t cried,” Barnes told WHBQ. “I ain’t seen nobody get shot five times and don’t cry. He smiles every day. Makes me smile every day.”