Now more than a decade later, Alexis Goggins is happy about a lot of things.
"Getting work done, getting those As and Bs and making my mom proud," she says.
"I'm overwhelmed, I am probably going to be crying by the end of the night," her mother said.
Yes, having your child get A's and B's in school and do well academically is something to be proud of, but that's not all in Alexis' case.
Over 10 years ago, Alexis was all over the news as the little 7-year-old girl who was shot six times (yes, SIX times) trying to protect her mother.
Alexis was shot in December 2007 when she and her mother were about to get into a car driven by Parker’s female friend. Parker’s former boyfriend, 29-year-old Calvin Tillie, jumped out of nearby bushes and forced his way into the car.
He forcefully drove them around for several minutes before Parker’s friend was able to pull over to a gas station, under the pretense of needing fuel. There she called Detroit police while Parker and Alexis remained in the car.
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Parker pleaded desperately with Tillie not to harm her or her daughter, but to no avail.
"Me and Alexis was left in the car with him at gunpoint and he starting shooting," Parker explained.
Tillie turned his 9mm pistol on Salietha and shot her in the side of the head and her arm. Before he could fire a third shot, however, Alexis Goggins screamed at him not to shoot her mother and jumped across Salietha's body to shield her from the bullets.
Without hesitation, Tillie fired six bullets into Alexis. They hit her in the right eye, left temple, cheek, chin, left arm, and chest. Tillie then showed all of the manliness you would expect from someone that had just gunned down a little girl by trying to run away like a pansy. Salietha, no doubt enraged at the perceived murder of her child, grabbed Tillie and knocked the gun out of his hand.
Parker also had been shot in the
side of the head and the arm.
Tillie was arrested and is currently serving a 60-year prison sentence for kidnapping, child abuse, and attempted murder.
Doctors told Parker that her heroic little daughter, who was shot six times, would never walk or talk again.
But Alexis has surprised people with her gritty toughness. She's not only walking and talking but also made a full recovery. Alexis endured two painful months in the hospital and underwent six surgeries.
Despite losing her right eye and having to endure multiple surgeries, Alexis is more resilient than ever.
"Her life should turn out really good. She wants to go to college and she wants to prepare herself to get a job," her grandfather Normal Samuel said. "I am very happy, everything should turn out wonderful."
"I saved my mom," she said after getting out of surgery 12 years ago.
Parker has endless gratitude for her selfless daughter.
"She's my angel and I love her to death," she said.
And on her high school graduation night, the now 19-year-old shared some valuable and wise advice for world we are currently living in: "We can get through it. Believe in yourself."
