16-Year-Old Speaks Out After Being Shot 6 Times In SW Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A 16-year-old girl in West Philadelphia was shot six times earlier this week, and wanted to speak out for the first time exclusively with CBS 3 Eyewitness News Saturday.
16-Year-Old Girl Shot Multiple Times In Southwest Philadelphia
Diamond Whitaker, is a soft-spoken, straight A student who says she wants to become nurse.
On Wednesday, she was simply doing what most teens do in the summer.
She was sleeping over a friend's house, and the girls decided to stay up late, and sit on the porch to chat.
That's when gunfire rang out, and she nearly died.
"We were just sitting on the steps that is all I can remember," she said.
Diamond cries every time she thinks about last Wednesday.
"I wouldn't want this to happen to anybody," she said. "My arm is broke. There's a half a bullet in my arm. I got grazed on my leg and shot in my hip."
She has had several surgeries over the last three days, and was just released from the hospital.
ALSO READ: Women Raises Awareness On Diving Safety, After Becoming A Quadriplegic
She decided to speak out Saturday because while most have been praying for her she feels some have judged her and what happened Wednesday night.
"People think I did something because I was the only one that got shot," she said. "But it was dark. This didn't happen to them. It didn't happen to their child. It didn't happen to their sister. It's not them."
Diamond doesn't live Philadelphia she was only visiting her grandmother when she decided to sleep over a friend's house nearby.
She's now trying to be strong, and use her unfortunate experience to spread a simple message.
"Put the guns down, and watch your surroundings," she said.
Tywanda Davis is Her Mother said, "For her be 16-years-old. She is smart she's not into the boy thing, she reads books. I just don't know why somebody would do this to my child."
Diamond says didn't see who shot her, and police so far have not made any arrests in this case.
Her family is pleading that anyone with information should come forward and contact police.
