The boy who lived: Devontae Thomas was grazed in
the head by a bullet at last year’s mass shooting in Scarborough,
escaping death by inches.
Devontae Thomas, 2, was grazed in the head by a bullet at last year's mass shooting on Danzig St.
The boy who lived wants a freezie.
“Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy,” he says, tugging at his mother’s arm in the family room of their Etobicoke apartment.
He gives her that
sweet, wide-eyed stare 2-year-olds reserve for such occasions, asks
politely, and is soon sucking on a green frozen treat.
A year ago this week, Devontae Thomas was grazed by a stray bullet when a gunfight broke out at a community barbecue on Danzig St. in Scarborough. He was 22 months old.
An inch in another direction could have killed him. A white scar as long as a crayon is visible on the crown of his head.
“He’s blessed,” says his mother, Dana Thomas, sitting cross-legged in an armchair, staring fondly at her child.
People who hear
Devontae’s story have been known to rub him for good luck, believing he
has a special something keeping him safe. “They call him Lucky Boy,”
says his father, Corloney Headley, patting the boy’s head.
At home with his freezie, nearly a year to the day after the shooting, Devontae is not hearing any of this.His world revolves around miniature cars, soccer, treats and cartoons.He is not yet aware of this luck others speak of.He doesn’t know his own incredible story.
Nearly 3 now, Devontae is turning into a lively, outgoing kid, a bit of a jokester.
When a reporter shakes
his father’s hand and introduces herself — “Hi, I’m Amy” — Devontae,
mimicking posture and tone, grabs his daddy’s hand and does the same.
“Hi,” he says formally, “I’m Devontae.”
Thomas says her son doesn’t remember what happened the night of the shooting,
has never brought it up or asked questions. Occasionally, he’ll
complain of a headache and point to his scar — “It hurts”— but Devontae
doesn’t understand where the mark came from.
The same cannot be
said for his mother. She can’t forget the pop-pop-pop of the bullets,
the panic, her own piercing screams as she saw her son covered in blood.
They had gone out for a
walk that hot summer night, to let Devontae cool down. Thomas, 22, says
they had been at the party for 20 minutes when gunfire erupted.
In the weeks that
followed, two men and two youths were arrested and charged in connection
with the shooting that left 14-year-old Shyanne Charles and 23-year-old
Joshua Yasay dead, and many others wounded.
Police believe the
gunfight broke out when a member of the Malvern Crew gang showed up at
the party and was turned away by members of the rival Galloway Boys
gang, then returned with reinforcements. The alleged shooters are in
jail awaiting trial.
Days after the
shooting, when Devontae’s health was in check, his mother asked Toronto
Community Housing to transfer the family out of Kingston-Galloway.
“I didn’t want to raise my child in the area after that,” she says.
They moved to an
Etobicoke highrise last August. Thomas says she has no intention of
returning to the neighbourhood where her son was nearly killed, not even
to mark the anniversary of the shooting.
“I’m not going,” she says, shaking her head. “Let that be the past.”
Thomas says things
have been going well since they moved, though she’s having a tough time
finding work. She thinks about the shooting nearly every day, but keeps
her emotions in check.
“Sometimes it hits me hard, but I can’t be depressed. I have to be strong for my—”
“Mommy, mommy, mommy,” Devontae interrupts, his tone urgent, his smile pleading.
He wants another freezie.
