HOUSTON – A man has been arrested and charged in connection with a road rage shooting that left an 11-year-old girl injured in Tomball.
Max Meyers, 22, was charged with injury to a child with serious bodily injury and deadly conduct.
On March 27, Harris County Sheriff’s deputies responded to reports of a shooting near Grand Parkway at Highway 249.
Deputies said the 11-year-old girl was traveling in the car with her family after attending a youth dance when Meyers, who was driving a Ford F150, fired two gunshots in the direction of the family’s vehicle.
Deputies said the girl was shot in her hip and abdomen. She was transported to Memorial Hermann hospital in serious condition.
Investigators said Meyers confessed to shooting at the van after surveillance video was obtained.
After searching his apartment and vehicle, investigators said a gun was recovered from the home and a 9mm shell casing was located in the back of his truck.
Meyers is currently being held on a $115,000 bond.
An 11-year-old’s fight to recover
The 11-year-old’s family spoke with KPRC2′s Rose-Ann Aragon about her journey to recovery and their reaction to the violent attack. The family said the gunfire was completely unprovoked.
“I don’t think our minds can even comprehend,” Rachelle Davis, the11-year-old’s mother, said.
“It all happened so fast, but I had seven kids in the car with me, so we had lots of eyes on the situation,” Jake Davis, the father, said.
The Davis’ 11-year-old daughter, Juliet Davis, was rushed to the hospital on March 27. Jake was on his way home with Juliet and her friends after a Junior High School dance.
“We were traveling down 99 when a car passed us, shot into the vehicle and hit my 11-year-old daughter,” Jake Davis said.
Gunfire struck Juliet. Harris County Sheriff’s deputies searched for the driver.
“We knew the odds were very slim,” Rachelle said. “The bullet came into her hip, came into her pelvis, and was lodged into her bladder.”
After three surgeries and counting, her family said she has been determined to overcome.
“She is a fighter, and she is strong,” Jake said.
This young lady’s strength has inspired theirs.
“She could have gone to a really dark place, but she kept going back to, ‘I’m going to get better. I’m going to overcome this,’” Rachelle said.
Despite the pain, they said Juliet has made it a practice to call upon faith and prayer.
“She loves the Lord, so she knows where her strength is drawn from,” Jake said.
The family prayed for accountability.
“The one thing that Juliet said to me was, ‘If nothing else, Mom, [this] guy can be stopped so he never does this to anybody else,” Rachelle said.
Their prayers were eventually answered.
“That person is not out there at large,” Jake said.
Now, these parents said they are taking a page from their child’s actions.
“This 11-year-old is sitting there saying, ‘This isn’t going to define me. This isn’t going to change my future,’” Rachelle said. “Something good is going to come from this, and we believe that in our hearts.”