When we left you on Friday night, 8 year old Marquis Mahler was in critical condition at the KHMH after being shot 4 times: one to the right side of the chest, 1 to the buttocks, 1 to the thigh and 1 to the right arm. The child was standing in his family's yard on Faber's Road when the shots were let loose just after midday on Friday. He reportedly shouted "gunman" and that's when the shooter opened fire on him.
Four bullets in a child's body was too much and Marquis died on Saturday morning, one more casualty of the ongoing warfare on the streets. But he's not just another statistic - this was just a child; he posed no threat, had no beef with anyone.
His death, and that he was deliberately shot four times, is an outrage beyond outrage, an act so far beyond comprehension that it has left the community reeling. And while we are all stunned, the greatest grief rests with his family. Matriarch of the Lewis clan, Marie Lewis told us what they are going through.
Marie Lewis, grandmother
"I look at the baby, I rub his foot, but to me he doesn't feel good so the doctor come and says well Ms. Marie we will have to do a surgery on the baby right foot because the blood is not reaching his brain. The pressure is very low. So I said okay, and the doctor told my daughter that she has to sign the paper, so she signed the paper and after that we sit there waiting. I was in there with my daughter-in-law and she said Marquis smile and I saw him like he was making a laugh, so I say that he was struggling for his life with the machine. We sat down and after we see Dr. Grinage and the next doctor they came in the room and when they got there they ask for excuse, so we come outside. But the way Dr. Grinage was moving I knew, but I stayed firm and strong for my daughter, she said Marquis is dead and I say no, pray. So I put my hand together and I start to say the prayers. The last prayer that I said was the Hail Mary and as I finish saying that and thank God that we could hug Marquis and be around him and them the doctor came out and he slam the door, which he was very upset about. He calls us inside and says that Marquis is dead. Right now I am very upset and weak. This chair that I am sitting in right here, last week Monday that little boy hug me up and wish me happy birthday, now to see him dead on my daughter's birthday when she is 38 years old, Marquis is 8 years old and Marquis is just gone."
According to the Post Mortem examination that was conducted on 8 year old Marquis Mahler, he died from Bronchial Aspiration along with Acute Pulmonary Edema caused by multiple gunshot wounds.
Police say that no one is detained and they are asking for the cooperation of the public.
Of course, many are saying that it was a direct hit ordered but not executed by a gang boss who lives in that area. Police did detain that man on Saturday afternoon but today told us it is in connection with another investigation.
The background to all this is that for about two years there has been serious beef between that gang boss and one the residents at #40 Faber's Road. This flared up in April when 22 shots from a machine gun were fired on the same yard. In that case Cecil Lewis was injured.
This time, two were killed: 44 year old Calvin Graham who happened to be in the area, and 8 year old Marquis Mahler. And even with two dead - the violence or the rumors of sustained violence continue tonight. According to the Father of the 8 year old, he was driving on Saturday afternoon by Farmers Market when someone fired a single shot at his car from a vehicle - and it hit his windshield. The family says that since then they have been receiving threats up to as late as this evening.
Our news team was at their home late this evening when the family received news of a threat from a neighbor who said she was told that some gunmen were about to shoot up their family home.
It may have seemed like just a rumor but understandably in the current climate, the family had to take it seriously, and went into a frenzied panic - scrambling for safety into one family member's concrete home - with everyone piling into the bathroom - even into the bath-tub for cover.
Our Monica Bodden had the misfortune of being one of those in the house at the time and she was pulled into the bathroom for safety as well. She called 911 to report it to police and they hung up on her.
Fortunately, up to news time there has been no report of anything untoward happening at # 40 Fabers Road but it remains very tense.
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