CLEVELAND, OH (WOIO) -
The mother of a 2-year-old boy who was shot by her babysitter's son says she forgives the teen.
Di'rico Wilson remains hospitalized in critical but stable after he was shot by his babysitter's teenage son earlier this month. The babysitter was also wounded.
Di'rico's mom, Ticarra Washington, says the teen who shot her son is like family to her. She released this statement on Tuesday.
Statement of Di'rico Wilson's Mother
May 22, 2012
"I want everyone to know Di'rico is okay. He opened his eyes three days ago, he responds to touch, and he understands what we say to him. He is coming along very well and I know in my heart he's going to make it.
"I also want everyone to know I'm not upset or angry at anyone. These people are like my family. Ernest was playing with a gun and it went off. He's a teenager and it was a careless act but I don't want anyone to be mad or upset. I want to keep it positive. I just want everyone to keep praying for me and my baby."
-- Ticarra Washington, Di'rico Wilson's mother
On May 13th, Cleveland Police were called out to 1059 E.76th Street for a toddler shot around 2 p.m. Officers arrived and found 2-year-old Di'rico Wilson with a gunshot wound to the head and his babysitter, Annett Jackson, 48, with a gunshot wound to the hand.
Police were told that Jackson's son was arguing with a group of guys outside and broke it up. Her family returned inside that's when the shooting occurred. Wilson and Jackson were transported to University Hospital for treatment. Wilson was taken into surgery and was last listed in critical condition Sunday evening. Jackson was treated and released.
Upon further investigation, Cleveland Police say Jackson was babysitting three kids at her home with her 19-year-old son, Ernest Crawford. Jackson and the three kids were in the living room while Crawford was in another room handling a gun. The weapon discharged and fired a single shot through the wall wounding his mother and little Wilson.
Crawford was arrested for felonious assault and is being held at Cleveland's Central Prison Unit awaiting charges.
This is not the first time Jackson has been shot. In October 2011, Jackson was shot four times while defending her son. "They tried to rob her son, and they came in to her house and just started shooting, they shot her twice in the stomach and in the arm, grazed her thigh" says Jackson's relative. Family members also say the same group of guys continue to threaten and taunt her family each week and nothing has been done to stop the violence.
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Ernest Crawford
FOX19-WXIX
