Suspects sought in drive-by shooting that killed Broward mom, injured 2-year-old son
FORT LAUDERDALE - At just 2 years old, Deagoo Henry has been through more in his young life than many adults.
Deagoo is learning how to walk again after he was shot in the leg and grazed in the head during a drive-by shooting in Fort Lauderdale last month that killed his mother.
"It's been…tough. And it's getting tougher," said Shontrelle Holliday, who is Deagoo's grandmom and the mother of 28-year-old Tiarra Holliday, Deagoo's mom.
On July 8, Tiarra Holliday was with Deagoo near the 800 block of NW 10th Terrace in Fort Lauderdale when a silver sedan pulled up and someone inside started spraying bullets.
Tiarra Holliday was shot in the chest and later died.
For her family, the gravity of the loss is nearly impossible to put into words.
"I'm outraged. There are a lot of emotions there. So, for the sake of having some couth, I just prefer not to say much," said Shontrelle Holliday.
Deagoo underwent two brain surgeries and was put into a medically induced coma for about a week.
"He had to have part of his skull removed and a plate put in because he had bleeding on the brain. There was an entrance and exit wound that fractured his leg, so he has plates and rods in his legs and that's why he's unable to walk," said Shontrelle Holliday.
Tiarra Holliday, the oldest of four daughters, is remembered as outgoing, sweet, protective and loving.
Shontrelle Holliday said there is no one Tiarra Holliday loved more in this life than her son.
"They had a bond, it's indescribable. He now understands, from what we gather, that mommy was hurt. And then, from the funeral service, that mommy is asleep. But now, he's starting to ask, where is she?"
Shontrelle Holliday is now helping to raise Deagoo, and said as he grows up, she wants him to know how much his mom loved him and how much he meant to her.
"I doubt that he will, you know, remember her, from such a young age, which is very unfortunate," said Shontrelle Holliday.
Deagoo has his first checkup appointment with doctors Wednesday and Shontrelle Holliday said his recovery could take up to a year.
Anyone who knows anything about the shooting was urged to call police and can remain anonymous.