Sometimes being Black in America means being shot by your neighbor at six years old and then watching your victimizer be released from jail three days later.
Sometimes accountability means making violent racists say “I’m sorry” with their wallets.
As we previously reported, earlier this year, six-year-old Coby Daniel of Ypsilanti Township, Michigan, was allegedly shot in his arm by his neighbor, Ryan Le-Nguyen, who is also accused of chasing the child with a sledgehammer for committing the egregious and heinous crime of—*checks notes*—leaving his bicycle in Le-Nguyen’s yard. Le-Nguyen was charged with assault with intent to murder, but he was released and allowed to return home after his bail was initially set at a measly $10,000 until public outcry prompted a judge to increase the bond to $100,000.
Now, Coby’s family is suing Le-Nguyen and Michael Inhmathong, who also lives in Le-Nguyen’s house, for $4 million in damages.
According to TMZ, Coby’s father, Arnold Daniel, said his son is still grappling with the pain and trauma of being shot for doing the most basic of things that children do, and that he will need to get “trauma counseling…as well as psychiatric and psychological counseling.”
Daniel also said his neighbors should be held financially responsible for the damage done to his son because they knew children in the neighborhood played near their yard and it was their responsibility to keep it safe for the kids instead of being the biggest danger for them to fear. Daniel’s suit also alleges that Le-Nguyen had shown “aggressive behavior” toward his children numerous times in the past.
Hopefully, Daniel receives all of the coins he is suing for and is able to get his son the help he should never have needed. And hopefully, Le-Nguyen ends up under the jail where he belongs.
Unfortunately, America is still America, so “hopefully” is really all we have.
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