'I Was Going To Try And Get Away': Man Driving With 21-Month Old Kayden Swann When Child Was Shot Speaks Out
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Thursday night, he was released on bond.
On Friday, the man driving the car carrying 21-month old Kayden Swann is clearing up his relationship to the boy, and why he thinks there is misinformation coming from the boy's family targeting him.
CBS2's Chris Tye reports from Lurie Children's Hospital where Kayden remains in critical condition after the bullet wound to the temple.
Jushawn Brown said he did everything he could to de-escalate the road rage incident and get away from the driver that brandished a weapon, then started firing at him.
His girlfriend and her grandson.
Despite that, he was charged with felony weapons charges. He said he tried shouting that the lane was merging. And with that, the scariest minute of his life began.
"I just want to say Kayden Swann, 'I love you. I just want you to get better, man,'" said Jushawn Brown.
Thirty seconds before crashing, 1.3 miles south to be exact, Brown knew there was trouble.
"He took his gun out the window like this - that's how I knew what kind of gun he had. Glock nine, long nose," Brown said.
A Toyota SUV driver with Michigan plates brandished the weapon, shouted, chased, then began shooting.
"I had a plan. So soon as Columbus light turn green, I was going to jet to the next lane and get away from him. He jet right behind me and started shooting five times behind me," Brown said.
The two cars were simultaneously merging into the same lane in a construction zone near Soldier Field. With his girlfriend's grandson in the backseat, he tried again to get away and end it.
"He saw I was going to try and get away," Brown said. "He hit the gas even harder and he shot 11 more times. That's when I heard the window shot."
Kayden was shot in the temple. His grandmother reacted instantly.
The SUV got away. A Good Samaritan picked them up and took them to the hospital where Kayden remains an "hour by hour" case. In the days since, Brown presented himself as the boy's grandfather. He is not.
"Kayden take to me. So much," Brown said. "I can't move, take a bath. Can't do nothing without Kayden want to be with me."
Also, he is aware that his girlfriend's family has said he did fire his weapon, escalating the situation, even though prosecutors said he did not. Brown said at no point did he fire a weapon.
"That's totally a lie. I don't understand why she would even do that," Brown said. "So, why would they make this up?
This is your girlfriend, right?
"Apparently not, so we're going to leave it at that," Brown said. "She always does this type of stuff...she gets in a a petty mode."
A judge let Brown out on bond because he wasn't the aggressor and never brandished his weapon.
CBS 2 tried speaking to Kayden's family Friday, but they did not want to comment.