HOUSTON – A 16-year-old girl who was critically injured during a shooting at Haverstock Apartments Sunday spoke exclusively to Channel 2 about her experience.
Ty-bra Baptiste said she was in the apartment complex Sunday with her 1-year-old cousin and best friend at the park when she heard the shots. She said she ran with her cousin, who was her only concern, but she said she fell while she tried to get away.
"The people started arguing, and this lady was like, 'You have to go, you have to go. They're about to start shooting.' I was telling them we was about to go, and they already started shooting," Baptiste said. "And I didn't think I got hit because I was so far from the bullet."
Baptiste said she was lying on the ground for some time, not knowing she was shot, when two women came to her aide. They took her to her apartment, and that's when she realized she had been injured.
VIDEO: Haverstock Apartments shooting victim speaks from hospital bed
"When we came around the corner, she was laying on the ground," explained Teniqua Baines. "She just had her hand out and was like, 'help! help!"
Baines said her children came inside after they saw the group arguing. It was moments later that the shooting happened in their complex. Baines and her sister, Monette Green, came outside to see what happened and that's when they found Baptiste.
"She gave me her car keys and was like, go get my car and we're going to take her home," said Baines in regards to her sister's car. "She [Baptiste] just kept saying her apartment number. My sister and I picked her up off the ground and took her home."
Baptiste thought she was hurt from falling, and didn't realize she was hit until she went to the restroom and saw blood.
"We never saw the bullet that's the thing, she told us, I kept saying, 'Where are you hurting at?' and just kept saying, 'I just fell, my back hurts and I can't feel my legs,'" said Baines.
The 16-year-old was shot in the backside and the bullet pierced her intestine and hit her colon. She was taken to LBJ Hospital. Her 1-year-old cousin was not injured.
"Watching her lay up there in that hospital like that -- oh, my God, oh, my God," explained Baptiste grandmother, Laura, through tears. "I love my baby and it hurts me so bad, Lord Jesus help me."
Baines and Green later found out that indeed Baptitse was hurt during the shootout. They went to visit the teen at the hospital and were impressed by her her spirit.
"I was like, this is a child of God, like her spirit," said Green. "You would think she's just in there for being sick, not for this type of thing. She said, 'I remember y'all, thank y'all, I love y'all and I'll never forget y'all."
Brothers Harvey and Jeremy Jones were charged in the shooting that left two other people dead and three others critically injured.
The capital murder charge against Jeremy was dismissed due to mistaken identities, according to authorities.
Harvey Jones, 34, is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
He was denied bond Thursday during a hearing in probable cause court.
A GoFundMe account has been set up to help Baptiste and her family.