Dakotah Earley briefly opens his eyes four days after being shot, critically wounded in Lincoln Park
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The brother of shooting victim Dakotah Earley had some uplifting news about the culinary student's recovery Tuesday.
"Today has been an amazing day for Dakotah! He briefly opened his eyes after hearing his mom call his name earlier. He also gave the doctor an unexpected thumbs up! We are so proud of him and how hard he is fighting with each day that passes," his brother, DeSean Earley, wrote in a GoFundMe. "We know this journey of recovery will be long for him, but we are so thankful that he has not given up."
Dakotah Earley was shot at close range in a robbery in Lincoln Park early Friday morning.
According to a relative, doctors already had to remove part of Earley's colon and much of his jaw in previous surgeries. There had also been concern that he might have to have his left foot amputated, but his family said his foot improved after being connected to an oxygen machine and it is now undecided whether the amputation will go ahead.
Earley was walking on Wayne Avenue near Webster Avenue around 3 a.m. Friday when a robber came out of hiding and pointed a gun at him. After giving the offender his bag, Earley reached for the gun, and both fell to the ground as they struggled over the gun.
A second robber, also armed with a gun, rushed up; and as the victim was struggling with the first robber, one of them can be heard demanding the passcode to his phone. Then the first robber shot the victim and took his cell phone.
As the victim was lying on the ground, the robber asked him again for his passcode before shooting him a second time. After asking the victim for his passcode again, the victim tells him some numbers before screaming in pain, and the robber shoots him a third time while he's still lying in the street.
He was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in critical condition with two gunshot wounds to the back, and one gunshot wound to the head -- resulting in partial loss of his colon.
A source tells CBS 2 that police have located the suspect's vehicle.