Photo: Kaylen Torres, 2, (seen here younger) accidentally shot by cousin, 21.
A two-year-old girl is fighting for her life after being accidentally shot by her cousin who was in another room of the home.
Kaylen Torres’ family said the hospital told them that the toddler was brain dead, but a neurologist has since apologized for the mix up saying that there is indeed hope.
Monday, Kaylen was playing with two other children in her Orange County, Florida home when a bullet went through a wall and hit her in the head. She had been shot by her own cousin who was in an adjoining room.
Her 21-year-old cousin, Christian Galarza-Rodriguez, told police his .22-caliber semi-automatic weapon accidentally went off as he was putting it away in a box in his dresser drawer.
Fired at a downward angle, the bullet went through the wall and hit Kaylen in the head as she sat on a pillow on the wall connecting the two rooms.
She was rushed to Health Central Hospital in Ocoee by Galarza-Rodriguez and the girl’s mother.
Though he ultimately cooperated with police, Galarza-Rodriguez initially gave police a different name when questioned about the incident. He was arrested for giving the false name of Luis Farias.
Thursday, Kaylen’s family said she is responding and is clearly not brain dead as initially reported.
A member of her family told WFTV, “We’re seeing things that, wow there could be a miracle, something could happen. The doctor had apologized to the mother because they had made a big mistake.”
She added, “We tickle her feet, she responds to that, she moves her whole leg up. And I even personally got to touch her arm and she moves her shoulder up.”
She is currently undergoing additional tests, and her parents, while very upset, say they are not giving up on their little girl.
