Touch and go
Family prays for boy, 5, shot by stray bullet
THE EX-CON accused of putting a stray bullet in the skull of a 5-year-old Bronx birthday boy has reason to pray — along with the wounded child’s family — for the child’s survival.
As relatives stood vigil by little Jaheen Walker’s hospital bed Wednesday, a prosecutor promised suspect Michael (White Boy) Quiles that he would face murder charges if the boy died.
Bullet fragments remained inside the child’s head despite surgery Tuesday and Jaheen’s prospects for recovery were still uncertain, said Assistant District Attorney Felicity Lung.
“Doctors say he’s in critical but stable condition,” Lung told a judge during a hearing in Bronx Criminal Court. “They can’t tell his prognosis, and are not sure whether he’ll survive.”
What was guaranteed, the prosecutor said, was a murder charge against the 27-year-old Quiles if Jaheen can’t survive the shooting that came on the day of his fifth birthday.
Jaheen’s great-grandmother offered some optimism as the family continued to gather around the boy in his room at New York-Presbyterian Hospital Columbia.
“All we need is prayers right now,” said Barbara Holmes in an interview with the Daily News. “I didn’t think prayers worked, but they must be because he’s getting better.”
She said the bullet was removed during surgery, and confirmed that some fragments remained in tyke’s skull. Doctors were taking a wait-and-see approach to his recovery.
“They are waiting for the anesthesia to slowly (wear off),” she said. “They want him to wake up slowly and see what they’re dealing with. “He’s gradually coming out of it. The surgeons have been great.” Aja Holmes, whom relatives described as Jaheen’s caretaker, remained upbeat without sharing any specifics about his condition. “He’s just a great kid,” she told The News. “He’s a really great kid.” Jaheen was walking with his father and sister on Washington Ave. and E. 167th St. on Monday, when Quiles punctuated an argument with two men by pulling his gun and blasting away, cops said. Dad Charlie Hunter tried to use his body as a shield to protect his boy, but one of the bullets slammed into Jaheen’s head, tore through his brain and lodged in the back of his skull.
Quiles knew the gunshot victim’s father by name and apologized before bolting from the crime scene.
“He said, ‘Sorry, Charlie. It’s my bad,’ ” Hunter said. “He knows me from in the neighborhood. He knows my baby. He sees him.”
Hunter said Jaheen hung on even as he rushed in the car through a traffic jam to the hospital.
“He’s a tough and an active little guy and you know I want him back that way,” Hunter said. “But it’s a very serious thing when somebody puts a bullet through your brain.”
The bearded, burly Quiles (photo left) was handcuffed and barely spoke during the short hearing. He responded twice with a faint “yes” when asked a pair of questions before being returned to a cell.