Our Story

On Saturday, June 6, just hours after the mass shooting near the Old West End festival shattered our Toledo community, an entirely separate nightmare struck our family. My 18-year-old daughter, Angel, and her boyfriend were targeted in a violent, armed robbery on Greenway Street near Ottawa Park. They were held at gunpoint, and Angel was shot.

Angel is currently 26 weeks pregnant with her very first child.

A Hero’s Bravery and Heartbreak

We need the world to know about the incredible bravery of Angel’s boyfriend. During the robbery, the gunman pulled the trigger while holding the weapon directly to his head. In a desperate act to protect his pregnant girlfriend, he fought back and tried to wrestle the gun away from the attacker. The gunman fired to kill him, but missed, and the bullet shattered Angel's arm and tore into her chest instead.

He is dealing with his own immense trauma from that terrifying moment, but he refuses to break. He has not left Angel's side for a single second at the hospital. He is completely dedicated, keeping vigil at her bedside, and preparing himself to take on the massive roles of full-time caregiver for Angel and a new father to their baby.

The Fight for Angel and Her Baby

The bullet shattered Angel’s arm, traveled directly into her chest, and lodged there before surgeons could remove it. The blast injury from the gunfire caused a devastating fracture to her 12th vertebra, leaving her spinal cord severely traumatized.

Right now, Angel is completely paralyzed from the waist down with zero movement in her legs. Doctors are entirely unsure if she will ever walk again.

Because of the severe trauma, Angel went into early labor at just 26 weeks. Her medical team has been working around the clock to slow her contractions. While they have managed to gap them out, they are treating this as an emergency situation where the baby will likely be born very early. Angel is being given aggressive medications to rapidly develop her baby boy’s brain and lungs. He currently weighs just 1 pound, 9 ounces. Every single day he stays inside her is a miracle.

Angel is in excruciating pain, but her options for relief are severely restricted because protecting her baby comes first. She cannot take anti-inflammatories or certain steroids, and her pain medications are strictly limited. She spent half of yesterday on a ventilator in case of emergency surgery. Though she hasn't been able to eat since Saturday, she is awake and talking.

Her absolute biggest fear in life has always been paralysis. Now, she is facing that reality while under immense stress, worrying constantly about how she will care for her newborn baby from a wheelchair.

Why We Need Your Help Directly

We are setting a goal of $50,000 to completely overhaul our lives so Angel, her boyfriend, and their baby have a safe, accessible environment to heal. My husband works at Jeep and faces frequent layoffs, meaning we simply do not have the savings required for the massive structural changes needed immediately.

The young couple will be moving into the lower level of my home so our family can provide 24/7 care and support. However, we have a multi-level house that requires major, immediate modifications:

Building an Accessible Lower-Level Bathroom: The downstairs area currently has no bathroom. We need to construct a full, wheelchair-accessible bathroom on a concrete floor (potentially adding a small extension or platform) so Angel can live completely on one level without dealing with stairs. This alone is estimated to cost at least $5,000.

Ramps and Transitions: We must build structural ramps for her to get through the front door of the house, and additional ramps to transition between the kitchen and the lower-level living area.

Wheelchair-Accessible Transportation: Angel will require a specialized van to get to intensive inpatient rehabilitation, constant physical therapy, and high-risk prenatal and pediatric appointments.

Adaptive Parenting Supplies: We need to source and purchase specialized, accessible baby gear designed for a mother who cannot use her legs and has limited strength in her healing arm.

A Cash Reward for Justice: The police currently have no leads. We are setting aside a portion of these funds as a cash reward for any verified information given to law enforcement that directly leads to a criminal indictment and charges against the person who did this.

Living and Medical Coverages: To provide a financial cushion so her boyfriend can focus entirely on her care and their baby during these first crucial months without the immediate panic of bills, and to cover specialized medications that insurance and CVS Caremark may deny.

How You Can Bless This Family

Angel is taking this tragedy like a true trooper, fighting for her life and the life of her son. If you can find it in your heart to donate—no matter how small—you are directly laying the physical foundation for this young family's survival.

If you are a local Toledo contractor, plumber, or building company willing to donate labor or materials to help us build this downstairs bathroom and install ramps, please contact us directly through this page. Your hands-on help would be a monumental blessing.

If you cannot donate, please share this link everywhere and please lift Angel, her boyfriend, and their baby boy up in your prayers. If you know anything about what happened near Ottawa Park on Saturday night, please contact the Toledo Police. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

sincerely, Brandy Jones