Community celebrates 1-year-old girl who survived shooting

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A South Side community came together Sunday to celebrate a miracle as a 1-year-old girl heals from a drive-by shooting earlier this month.

Khlo'e Chatman was sitting in the back seat of a family car when someone rolled up alongside the car and opened fire on April 15. No one has been charged in connection with the shooting.

The bullet remains lodged in her head, but she was released from the hospital about 24 hours after the shooting.

Her mother, Kelly Chatman, still thinks about what could have happened.

"I am feeling way better but of course it is still a thought," Chatman said Sunday.

The one-year-old was in a moving car with her aunt and a family friend in the 54-hundred block of West LeMoyne when the shooting occurred. A bullet came through the trunk and backseat, hitting Khlo'e in the head.

"When it happened she didn't even cry," said Tikita Chatman of her granddaughter, Khlo'e. "She didn't cry until after the doctors came, approached her. Then she cried."

"I hope she continues to grow," said cousin Casey Singletary. "I'm happy that she made it. I love her and I just pray that she make it to see a whole bright future.

Members of various social clubs organized a gathering Sunday in Khlo'e's honor, bringing not only prayers but also gifts.

"We reached out to each other and everybody in the community and organizations came together to show our appreciation that god allowed her to be here," said organizer Marshon Kuntu.

They hope Khlo'e close call will help motivate others to put down the guns.

"It needs to stop but saying it doesn't mean it is going to happen so hopefully we will pray everything stops," Chatman said.