'Not too many people survive a bullet': Family shares lasting impacts of gun violence

CNN/Stylemagazine.com Newswire | 6/27/2023, 5:05 p.m.
- It's been nearly two years since 11-year-old Ja'Liyah Baker was shot in the neck while trying to shield her …
11-year-old Ja'Liyah Baker was shot in the neck while trying to shield her little brother from gunfire. Mandatory Credit: WVTM

Originally Published: 27 JUN 23 16:17 ET

By Chip Scarborough

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (WVTM) -- It's been nearly two years since 11-year-old Ja'Liyah Baker was shot in the neck while trying to shield her little brother from gunfire in Birmingham.

The events of November 2021 are difficult for Baker to recall now. She was left in a wheelchair, unable to walk. Baker has a message for the one-year-old little boy injured in a shooting on Saturday in Jefferson County.

"I hope you're feeling better, and I hope that God blesses you," Ja'Liyah Baker says.

The Baker family had just returned home from school two years ago when the shooting happened. They hadn't even made it out of the car when someone started firing bullets.

"I remember when my daughter was shot, I couldn't think," Latrice Baker remembers. "Pray, like praying to God. Bless these doctor's hands, these nurses. You know, it was a lot. So, not too many people survive a bullet."

The Baker family has tried to make the best of an unimaginable situation, opening a business called "Liyah Strong: Events and Rentals." They rent out bounce houses, water slides, and other items for special gatherings.

"I give them the most reasonable price I can give them because they're doing something to get these kids together and away from violence, and that's our goal," Latrice Baker explains.

The family asks others to think twice before firing a gun, knowing the consequences will last a lifetime.

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