Lamonthea Theus is only 3-month-old and is now an amputee. The baby lost his hand after he was shot while sitting in his car seat early last Saturday morning. Police said the boy's mother was driving in the area of 51st and Walrond Ave when she heard several shots being fired. When she pulled over, she saw that her son had been shot in his right hand.
A blue bandage covers the spot where his hand once was, a mark of the violence his father now knows but still can't understand and dreads trying to explain to his youngest child someday.
Theus and his wife have six children. He said his wife just dropped off a co-worker after picking up an extra shift at an east Kansas City Walmart. She was headed home and about one mile away just before 1 a.m. Saturday when her SUV was hit by gunfire at East 51st Street and Walrond Avenue.
"Big bullet hole right there and that could have been my wife's head," Theus said as he pointed out three holes in the SUV.
With bullets coming from both directions Theus believes his wife was caught in the middle of a gun battle. He said it was a shootout that had nothing to do with his wife or his baby boy.
"Luckily our other kids weren't in the car. At least two or three car seats were riddled with bullets," Theus said.
There was a bullet hole on each side of the SUV and another that went through the roof, seemingly missing his wife's head by inches. The window of the backseat where little Lamontea was sitting is still missing, shattered by the gunfire.
However, Theus is thankful his son didn't die.
Gun control is now out of control, said Police Chief Darryl Forte.
"It's important to protect everyone in Kansas City, but the children, they have no voice and oftentimes, like the last two incidents, they are innocent victims and we as adults have to stand up and watch out for them," Forte said.
Theus and his family are focused on Lamontea, his needs and his new struggles that no baby should have to endure.
"He's on medication now. No 3 month should have to take oxycodone to fight through pain," Theus said, soothing his little one. He never spoke of justice, just safety, and frustration figuring out how to find it.
"If I had the money and a good job, I wouldn't even be around here right now. I refuse to raise my kids in this neighborhood in KC," he said.
The Police were unable to find any evidence so they have little to work with. No arrests have been made.