Parents living nightmare after Clark Atlanta student left paralyzed after shooting

ATLANTA — A bullet is still lodged in a college student's spine after she was shot while driving.

Atlanta police said Daeja Craddick, 19, was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital after someone shot her in the back last week as she was driving through a southwest Atlanta intersection. Her car crashed.

[READ MORE: College student says woman shot her as she drove near campus, police say] 

Channel 2's Justin Wilfon spoke exclusively with Craddick's family Wednesday. They said the teen had dreams of someday working in the fashion industry, but now, they said she's living a nightmare.

“It’s just devastating. No one should ever get that call. No one,” Craddick's mother, Deanna Craddick, said.

Daeja Craddick just started her freshman year at Clark Atlanta University last month.

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“At this point, they’re unsure if she’ll be able to walk again. At this point, we’re just kind of waiting to see what happens,” Deanna Craddick said.

Daeja Craddick's parents said the teen is in good spirits but still has nightmares about what happened.

“In a lot of ways, I wish I was there. I let her down. I couldn’t protect her,” Daeja Craddick's father, Michael Craddick, said.

Her parents still are not sure who wanted to hurt her.

The teen told her parents a woman shot her as she drove through the intersection of Lawton Street and Lucile Avenue. The bullet pierced her driver's side door.

Atlanta police have made no arrests and told Channel 2 Action News it's likely the shooting was not random.

For the parents of a young girl with big dreams, it's hard to believe she'd be anyone's target.

"She did all the things she was supposed to do to get the opportunity that she received. Someone took that from her. Someone took that from her," Michael Craddick said.

As the hospital bills mount, the Craddicks have started a GoFundMe page.

Cox Media Group