Thursday, Nickolai Gray Jr. was sentenced in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court to seven years for his guilty pleas in early June to charges of felonious assault with a deadly weapon, discharge of a firearm over a public roadway and having a weapon as a felon.
One of the bullets Gray fired at the car Aaron Newberry was driving that day hit Christian — at the time, 2 years old and in a car seat — in the head.
According to court documents filed with the case, Smith and Christian were passengers. Newberry saw Gray walking on Blueberry Avenue and pulled over to where he was. The two men exchanged words, guns were drawn and Gray fired at the car as it sped away.
Newberry crashed into a tree on Gettysburg Avenue. Police recovered a handgun Newberry tossed into a Dumpster near the crash scene, according to the court documents.
The child was taken to Dayton Children’s Hospital. Gray was arrested by Dayton police and a Southern Ohio fugitive task force unit four days after the shooting.
Christian has since been released, but has a long and uncertain journey.
Smith said she found out Thursday, the day Gray was sentenced, that her son has lost hearing in his left ear. Smith said there are an uncertain number of therapy sessions left and she’s not sure what will happen next with her child.
“If I could have my son back the way he was, then I’ll take that over any time that [Gray] does have,” Smith told reporters outside the courthouse after the sentencing hearing.
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