A west Columbus man is facing charges Tuesday night in connection to gunfire that sent a 3-year-old girl to the hospital on Friday.
Dionni Branch is home recovering from her wounds.
Dionni ‘s father tells NBC4 that his daughter sustained an eggshell fracture in her skull after a bullet lodged under the skin by her temple.
Now, a neighbor is behind bars at the Franklin County Jail accused of pulling the trigger
Demetrius Branch says his daughter is not only physically scarred, but emotionally struggling, “anything loud, if people clap loud she gets freaked out, pots and pans she gets freaked out.”
Branch says since Dionni came home from the hospital Sunday night, sudden noises scare her.
Her older sister, 5-year-old Demitryanna Branch was with Dionni and their grandmother on the front porch of their Palmetto Street home when the bullet struck Dionni. The bullet was allegedly discharged from 187 South Hague Avenue.
“She got shot. She go to the ambulance and go to the doctors and they gave her a shot and she got tissue on her head,” said 5-year-old Demitryanna.
Columbus police officers arrested 24-year-old Steven Stroud on Saturday. He has been charged with aggravated rioting.
Detectives say Stroud fired three gunshots in the air after an altercation with another man on his front porch.
One of the bullets lodged in 3-year-old Dionni’s skin.
“I’m sorry that it happened but the shooter, he don’t live here. The shooter was not Steven Stroud,” said Mary Eldred, Stroud’s girlfriend.
Eldred says the shooter was a teen friend of Stroud’s, but detectives say otherwise.
The only thing Dionni’s family wants is an apology to their little girl, who could have been killed.
“It doesn’t matter if she’s a kid or not, she needed that. She needs to know somebody out there cares besides just her family because she didn’t do nothing wrong,” said Demetrius.
Eldred says she and Stroud have a 3-year-old son and Stroud didn’t mean any harm 3-year-old Dionni.
Stroud remains in the Franklin County Jail on $20,000 bond. He denied NBC4‘s request for an interview. SOURCE
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