A Miami Shores woman is sharing her story one year after being shot on Interstate 95.
Esha Dawkins had her 6-year-old son, Samuel, by her side just as she did that day when she was struck while he sat behind her in the car.
Now, a year later, she lives with a bullet lodged in her neck and is asking for more technology on I-95 to help prevent what happened to her.
Bullet pierced windshield, struck driver’s neck
“The bullet came through the passenger side windshield where my son was sitting behind me and into my neck. I was sitting in the driver seat, driving,” Dawkins said as she showed her scar.
Dawkins and her son, who was 5 at the time, were heading home southbound from Costco, preparing for Thanksgiving, when they were caught in the crossfire of two drivers shooting at each other.
She pulled over, and a road ranger told her she had been shot in the neck.
Mother feared she might not survive
“Once he said the neck I thought it would be fatal, so I took my son out and started talking to him. Just praying. And telling him I love him but I might not make it,” Dawkins said.
She spent two days in the hospital, where doctors determined the bullet would have to remain in her neck.
Lingering questions remain a year later
Dawkins said she and her son still talk about the shooting when they drive through the area.
“He asked is this where you got shot? There’s nothing we can do about it. We don’t know who did it. We don’t know what was happening. But I’m thankful. I’m still here,” Dawkins said.
Attorney calls for more cameras
Her attorney, Willard Shepard, said they have spent the past year pushing for more cameras along I-95, citing an increase in road rage-related shootings.
“We want to send a call to lawmakers and our state legislators to come forward to fund for the department of transportation to be able to put more cameras out there so more of these crimes could be solved,” Shepard said.
No arrests have ever been made in Dawkins’ shooting.
