UNITED STATES

Houston police may face lawsuit over shooting of baby

Smalls was at a gas station with her son in a baby seat in the back seat of her car when an armed man being pursued by police tried to pull her out of her vehicle

-My baby didn't deserve it- Daisha Smalls said at a press conference. Agencies

H. J. I. / AFP

The mother of a one-year-old Black boy who was shot in the head and seriously wounded by police in Texas said Tuesday that she plans to file suit against law enforcement.

-My baby didn't deserve it- Daisha Smalls said at a press conference. -My baby didn't deserve to be shot. Especially not by the police.-

The 19-year-old Smalls said bullet fragments remained lodged in the brain of her son, Legend Smalls, and he had part of his skull removed following the March 3 shooting in Houston.

Smalls was at a gas station with her son in a baby seat in the back seat of her car when an armed man being pursued by police tried to pull her out of her vehicle.

A police officer opened fire, killing the suspect and wounding the baby.

-They knew she was in the car- said Ben Crump, an attorney for Smalls. -They still shoot anyway, knowing that she's in the car.-

-Right now in America we're talking a lot about -- when it comes to African Americans -- the police shoot first and ask questions later- Crump said. --And they don't do that to other citizens.-

Antonio Romanucci, another lawyer for Smalls, said "our intention is to file a lawsuit."

-We are developing more facts, and once those facts are fully developed, you can anticipate a lawsuit being filed- Romanucci said.

-You do not shoot unless you know what your target is- he said. -This is not the movies. This isn't a TV show.-