SOUTH TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) — A 22-year-old mother who came to Tallahassee to celebrate Florida A&M University's homecoming is now recovering at FSU Health after Saturday night's mass shooting.
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ABC27 spoke exclusively by phone with the victim's mother, Ida Daniels, who says her daughter, Ayante Smith, is no longer in critical condition but faces a long road to recovery.
What was supposed to be a night of celebration turned into a nightmare for Smith and her family. Smith traveled from Greenwood, Florida, to Tallahassee to enjoy FAMU's homecoming festivities.
But Saturday night, gunfire erupted on Perry Street near campus. Daniels told me Smith was standing with others when the shooting started. She was shot once in the neck.
Daniels says the bullet caused some damage to her daughter's spine before lodging in her jaw, fracturing it. Despite those injuries, Daniels says her daughter is awake, alert and no longer in critical condition.
"She's a loving person. She's a mother of a 3 year old. She's devoted all her time to her daughter and providing for her," Daniels said.
Daniels says her daughter is not a FAMU student. She was simply in Tallahassee to enjoy homecoming, something she does every year.
Now, instead of returning home to her 3-year-old daughter, Smith is recovering from a gunshot wound.
As her family focuses on her recovery, Daniels has a message about the violence that changed their lives.
"Seek justice and… this, this need to stop," Daniels said.
Back on Perry Street, neighbor and FAMU alumna Jasmine Alexander says she left the area Saturday before the shooting. But she returned Sunday to support vendors still set up in the area.
"I was very sad, being that I'm a nurse and I work with children. It really hurt my heart that children got injured, and I just pray for them, cause I know this is, this is a tragedy," Alexander said.
Daniels told me her daughter is doing much better, but her family is still dealing with the aftermath of Saturday night's shooting.
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