The shooting of a child always leaves a community in pain and disbelief. Think about it for a moment. A child simply wants to play and have fun. No matter who the child is, there’s a common thread among children called joy, happiness, love, and innocence. Under no circumstances should a child be forced to live and endure a nightmare.
Unfortunately, 8-year-old Donald Maiden, Jr known as D.J. is suffering his own nightmare after being shot in the face by a neighbor outside an apartment complex in Dallas. D.J. was playing tag outside when 46-year-old, Brian Cloninger, a white man shot little D.J. When police asked Cloninger why he shot D.J., he told police, ‘he wanted to.’ Words cannot express how his behavior has triggered outrage within the community and for those who are following this story.
D.J., as you can imagine, had to undergo major surgery. He was hooked up to machines and breathing tubes. A metal plate and wire mesh were used to hold his jaw together. “
D.J. still has a tracheotomy tube in his neck to help him breathe, and is due for reconstructive surgery on March 10, but he is functioning normally as anyone could expect an 8-year-old was shot for seemingly no reason to function.”
Even though D.J. will face many surgeries to repair the physical damage, the emotional and psychological damage will not easily go away. D.J.’s mother, Monique Locklin says that her son fears that Cloninger will get out of jail to return to hurt him or somebody else. D.J. tries to avoid talking about the shooting and his family is supportive of that. .
With regard to Cloninger, he is still in jail and no trial date has been set. The family wants him to receive the maximum so that justice can be brought to D.J.
This is definitely a sad story. I want to caution you after reading this, the heinous act of one person cannot bring judgment on a group of people.
[Hattip to The Root, Kulture Kritic]
