NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A Nashville mother is holding onto hope and demanding justice after her 16-year-old daughter was critically wounded in a shooting that injured four teenagers at a party on Jefferson Street.
Metro Police say gunfire erupted around 12:25 a.m. Sunday during a party outside on Jefferson Street. At least some of the shots came from a vehicle. Four teenagers — ages 14, 15, 16 and 18 — were wounded.
Kadence White, a high school junior, was shot in the back of the head. Her family says the bullet that struck her remains lodged in her brain.
For Kadence's mother, Stella Short, this nightmare is a reality she's still struggling to accept. Her daughter is more than the teenager critically wounded in the shooting. She's a young entrepreneur with a hair business, a big sister, and a girl whose life revolves around the people she loves.
"She loves being with her friends, talking to her friends. She loves spending time with us, her family, her little sister. My daughter adores her. That is literally her favorite person," Short said.
Doctors determined the bullet could not be safely removed.
"In order for them to remove the bullet, it would actually do more detrimental damage than for them to just let it stay. So it still lies inside of her head," Short said.
Short says Kadence remains in critical condition — fighting every second.
Pastor Sam Kirk, who has known Kadence and her family for years, says the violence is bigger than one night.
"Every parent should feel that I should let my child go out for a night of fun and expect their child to come home safely," Kirk said.
For Kirk, this violence brings back painful memories — including a young man whose death decades ago helped inspire a scholarship.
"We established a scholarship in that young man's name. He didn't make it, and that was one of the reactions I had. I thought about how, years ago, the same issues and same problems on our street, and it affected me," Kirk said.
As her daughter fights to survive, Short is holding on to two things. The first is gratitude.
"One, the first person I really want to hear from is that night we were told that someone at the scene gave my daughter CPR. It literally saved her life," Short said.
The other is justice.
"The second person I would like to go for is I would like the person, the person who done this, to come forward," Short said.
Metro Police say detectives are still pursuing leads. Anyone with information about this shooting case is asked to contact Nashville Crime Stoppers at 615-742-7463.
As for this family, they say right now all they need are prayers for Kadence.
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