Funds being raised for single mother shot in carjacking

The family of a single mother who was shot multiple times during a carjacking at a Warren gas station last week has set up a donation fund as she recuperates from her injuries.

Joanna Withrow, 38, of Livonia, was shot three times at a Sunoco on Eight Mile Road. She remains hospitalized and was last reported to be in stable condition.

“She has sustained lifethreatening injuries but by the grace of God she is still with us,” her brother Jared James Withrow said in a statement on social media.

Her family said the three gunshots resulted in a “massive amount of blood loss.” She was struck once in the stomach, rupturing her intestines, and twice in her right leg. Her femur was shattered, muscles damaged and she may require a skin graph in the future.

“She has already undergone surgery for seven to eight hours for her abdomen and will require a second major surgery for bone reconstruction,” her parents, Julie Byrum and Jared Withrow, said in a statement.

Withrow’s family has set up a GoFundMe account to pay her bills since she can’t work for the foreseeable future. She has two sons, JoShawn, 5, and Amari, 2, who are being cared for by her brother, and two daughters, Jewell and Makaya.

Warren police have three people, including a high school student, in custody.

According to police the trio followed Withrow to a gas station, shot her and dumped her from the vehicle to the ground. They reached over her body to grab the car keys and fled in her 2015 Nissan, police said.

Javon Lamont Carter, an 18-year-old student at Martin Luther King Jr. High School in Detroit, Shakira Johnise-Davnetta Hayes, 27, and Michael McCall Jr., 20, are being held in the Macomb County Jail accused of various crimes relating to the incident.

Authorities say Carter is the alleged triggerman.

As of 11 a.m. Tuesday, 163 people have donated in excess of $9,175 to the fund.

To make a donation, visit gofundme.com/f/help-joanna-recover-from-gunshot-wounds.