'Everything the doctors are saying, God says different:' Mother of Oakland boy, 4, who shot himself
OAKLAND, Calif. (KTVU) - When 4-year-old Na’vaun Lamarii Price Jackson accidentally shot himself in the head last month, doctors said he likely would be brain dead or never walk again. He was immediately put on life support and placed in a medically induced coma.
On Thursday, his family posted videos on Facebook showing the adorable little boy has been let out of the Intensive Care Unit at UCSF Benioff at Children’s Hospital in Oakland. He still isn’t talking but is able to sip from a straw. His eyes looked alert as his grandfather talked to him, urging him to be strong.
Bandages were still wrapped around his head, including circular Band-Aids affixed between his eyes where the bullet entered his forehead and part of his skull and brain were removed. He's been getting around, moving about the hospital in a wheelchair.
“He’s breathing on his own, he’s doing something different every day,” his mother, Brijjanna Price, said a news conference on Thursday. She said he’s even rolling his eyes at some of the nurses.
She paused.
“Everything the doctors saying,” Price added with some relief, “God says different.”
On March 27, Na’vaun found a gun under the pillow in a bedroom in the 2400 block of Ritchie Street, where Price’s estranged boyfriend, Terrence L. Wilson lived. Wilson told police he slept with the gun under his pillow and had forgotten to lock it up.
Wilson was charged earlier this month with one count of child abuse, one count of possession of a firearm by a felon and one count of first-degree criminal firearm storage, according to court documents filed by the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office.
Price told police she was aware a gun was in the house, but did not know where it was stored.
At the news conference, she didn’t mention Wilson’s name, but indicated she would never return to Wilson’s home. “ I don’t even plan on talking to anyone associated with that house,” she said.
Meanwhile, Na’vaun’s father, Nathan Jackson, has been unsuccessfully petitioning Gov. Gavin Newsom to be released from prison so that he can visit his son. Jackson was able to Skype Na’vaun earlier this month, but has not been allowed out of custody.
As for Na’vaun’s longterm prognosis? Family members said it will take months to determine. For now, they are hoping for good news and trying to keep the boy’s spirits up.
“I’m not talking yet, but I’m stronger,” his grandfather said on Ramon Price’s Facebook page. “I just wanted to let the world know that he is doing well. Keep praying please.”