Local

Lakewood mother says bullet intended for her grazed son’s head

LAKEWOOD, Wash. — A Lakewood mother is still reeling after her infant son was grazed by bullets she thinks were intended for her.

Anna Chase says her neighbor had accused her and her husband of spying on him through their daughter’s bedroom wall.

Days later, he allegedly fired some two dozen shots into their apartment, injuring their son.

Her son is expected to survive, but this family now needs help.

They say they cannot return to their apartment at the LASA apartment complex. There are bullet holes in several walls, and they say just being inside is traumatizing.

“He was completely bleeding everywhere,” said Chase. “Like my friend had blood all over him. My daughter had blood all over her.”

Chase says three-month-old Leo is her miracle son.

As he sat in his child’s swing last Friday afternoon, a neighbor allegedly fired into the Lakewood apartment where he lives with his young parents and older sister.

“Apparently, the bullet had struck the swing,” Chase said, “bounced off and hit the window first. But then one of the flying stray bullets had hit the side of his head.”

Among the damage to their apartment, Lakewood Police counted five rounds shot into the door. Another 17 rounds were fired into the hallway wall; they all entered their unit.

Pierce County prosecutors have now charged their neighbor, Earnest Lee Hamilton, with the crime. The 40-year-old man has felony convictions in California and Texas.

Still, Chase says they are counting their blessings.

“Everyone’s just so surprised,” she said. “I’m surprised that he’s just still so happy. And he smiles all the time still. Looking at him, I’m like, oh my gosh, this is like a miracle.”

But their apartment, she says, has been left in shambles.

“There’s like a bullet hole in my daughter’s door and in her wall where she plays,” Chase said. “My whole bathroom is destroyed. My sink is broken. There is gun splatter all over the walls.”

The complex has given them shelter at a hotel, but that won’t last.

And Leo isn’t entirely out of the woods. Doctors still have to decide whether to remove the shrapnel from his head. They plan to monitor him for the next several months.

So, the family has started a GoFundMe account, hoping to get some help through this difficult period.