Steven Bynum was sentenced to 18 years for shooting twice in the head “by mistake” a pregnant teenager in Brooklyn (NYC), who miraculously survived, but was left permanently paralyzed.
Bynum, now 40, fired multiple shots from her car on Sept. 10, 2017. Tatiana Sparks, a 19-year-old at the time, was shot twice in the head outside her apartment in the Brownsville neighborhood.
“She was an innocent victim. She is a miracle. Her son is also a miracle”
Mother of Tatiana Sparks
She and her baby survived, but Sparks he needed several surgeries and their son was born two months early. Now the young he has permanent right-sided paralysis, speech and cognitive impairments, and other serious medical problems.
“She was an innocent victim. She is a miracle. Her son is also a miracle, ”said the victim’s mother to Pix11.
Prior to the shooting, Bynum and others stole drugs from an unidentified man, who retaliated by pistol-whipping Bynum. On the day of the shooting, he saw the rival dealer and opened fire, but missed and hit Sparks instead.
“Today’s sentence holds the defendant responsible for his callous and wanton disregard for life and human safety by opening fire and shooting a pregnant bystander in the head, causing permanent paralysis,” said US Attorney Breon Peace.
In a similar case, last June a man wielding a wrench repeatedly hit a young pregnant woman on the head in a cruel attack in broad daylight on a street in Fordham Heights (The Bronx). The woman was rushed to an area hospital with a severe cut to her head, but she managed to survive.
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