CLEVELAND — Unique Shepherd is looking for answers more than a month after a drive-by shooting injured her 13-year-old and 18-year-old daughters.
It happened in the early morning hours of Easter. Shepherd said she was cooking and putting together baskets for her kids.
She showed News 5 where several gunshots went through her home.
"It was like 'pow, pow, pow, pow, pow,'” Shepherd said.
Her teenage daughters were upstairs. The oldest was braiding the younger’s hair.
“My daughter, the 18-year-old, came downstairs and says she just got shot,” she said.
The 18-year-old was shot in both legs.
“Then my 13-year-old came downstairs and said she just got shot. The bullet was still stuck in her arm,” Shepherd said. “Then she sat down on the bed and blood started gushing out her back.”
Several family members called 911 to report the drive-by and asked that ambulances be sent quickly.
Watch News 5's original report on the March 31 shooting:
Shepherd’s 13-year-old daughter recalled how things unfolded that morning.
“I remember me and my sister arguing on the braid she was trying doing, because I told her to do my stuff right,” the teen said. "I remember my sister saying she got shot, and everything went black."
She recalled waking up in the hospital.
"And I was just crying for mom. That’s all I wanted. I just wanted to see my mom,” the teen said.
The 13-year-old had a bullet removed from her arm. She was also shot in the back. That bullet exited her abdomen.
“Thank God for her size or she would have had to have a colostomy bag because they had to take some fatty tissues to wrap it around her colon,” Shepherd said. “It pierced her colon. She had to get emergency surgery.”
Shepherd said the shooting has traumatized the entire family, and she's looking to move. She has a total of six children.
"I could have been burying both of my babies on Easter," Shepherd said. "They wake up in the middle of the night sometimes screaming 'mommy'."
Shepherd said she’s still finding bullet holes and bullets around her house and on the street.
She said she called detectives, but they've yet to come to pick up the evidence. With no suspects identified or anyone arrested, she said she feels helpless.
“A real mother (is) not going to be able to sleep peacefully and correctly until you fix the situation,” Shepherd said. “And I feel like I can’t depend on nobody to fix this situation. I feel like I got to do it.”
“You feel like this case is not a priority?” I asked.
“I guess not,” Shepherd said.
Wednesday morning, News 5 contacted the Cleveland Police Department for an update on the investigation. A media representative said he would be looking into it. News 5 will update the story when new information is released.
Shepherd lives in the ward represented by Cleveland City Councilman Kevin Conwell. He said while some crimes in the city are down, he’s still dealing with calls about gunfire.
“The city is down with police officers, however… I can't believe no one saw anything. See something. Say something… report it to the police,” Conwell said.
The councilman said he plans to meet with the Shepherd family this week and connect with the Cleveland Police Department to get an update on their investigation.
“Children have to know that you care about them,” Conwell said.
The 13-year-old who survived the shooting wants the violence to stop.
"It’s not nothing to joke about,” the teen said. “And kids need to start valuing their lives."
There are several resources for victims of crime:
The Trauma Recovery Center at MetroHealth
The Ohio Crime Victims Compensation Program
