Hundreds gathered for a vigil Friday night to pray for a little boy's quick recovery, a week after he was shot in the head in northeast D.C. last week.
Jayden, 9, was an unintended victim during the exchange of gunfire in the 3700 block of Hayes Street NE.
He was shot in the parking lot of Mayfair Mansions apartments, right next to a neighborhood playground. A responding D.C. officer cradled Jayden and drove him to a hospital in his police car.
Two men suffered non-life threatening injuries and it's unknown if they're suspects or victims.
"My son is the only one in a hospital bed, so that's what overwhelms me," Jayden's mother Monique Nichols said. "This is very hard for me. [He's] in critical condition and trying to get through this."
D.C. council members Yvette Alexander and Muriel Bowser were on hand Friday during the vigil to offer support.
"The sooner we can get police the information they need, the sooner we can feel a lot safer," Bowser said.
Local
Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia local news, events and information
"We can come together today to pray for Jayden's healing," Alexander said.
Nichols sent out an emotional plea for her son's shooters.
"Turn yourself in, give someone a phone call, tell us to meet you somewhere, so we can have a detective there, the police there and the cops ready for you," she said.
If you have any information, call police at 202-727-9099.
