Officials are worried about the safety of the teen gunman who is accused of shooting a baby in the face this week. 19-year-old suspect Damark King has been moved from Rikers Island to a jail outside the city "for his own safety." Outside court on Friday, relatives of 21-month-old Samyah Bailey, who lost an eye as a result of the shooting, shouted at a smirking King, “Hang yourself with a sheet, bitch!” and “An eye for an eye!”
According to police, Samyah was being watched by her father, Michael Bailey, and an uncle, Anthony Mahoney, on Wednesday when showed up. King, who may have had previously been involved with Samyah's mother at some point, got into a fight with Mahoney. When Bailey jumped in, King allegedly took a gun out and shot four times, hitting Samyah in the face.
Doctors pointed out how miraculous it was that Samyah only lost an eye in the attack. Dr. Rene Chalom said that if the position of Samyah’s head had been "slightly different" at the time of the shooting, "we could have seen a tragically different outcome" with a "penetrating injury to the brain." She added, "I believe in my heart that there was some kind of miracle to this story."
King was paroled in January after serving four years for shooting a teen twice in the chest over an Xbox and a pair of sneakers. He has been charged with assault, criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment.
