TOLEDO, OH (WTOL) - Zayden Morales is a tough but lucky 7-year-old kid.
Tuesday night, he was shot in the face while sitting at a kitchen table at a house in Northwood.
The stray bullet was fired from outside the home.
Zayden was released from the hospital on Saturday.
The gunshot fractured his cheekbone, broke his jaw and came out the side of his neck.
Zayden's mouth is now wired shut.
For now, he eats through a straw.
"That's my son. I love him to death. Just glad he's here. I can't thank nothing but the Lord. It's a miracle," said Zayden's dad Ernesto Ibarra.
Kassandra Dunbar lives in the house.
Zayden and his mother Jenna Morales were visiting her when the boy was wounded.
"I started screaming to call the ambulance. I pulled my baby up seeing he was bleeding from the cheek and grabbed his head and threw it on my chest and I just held his head on my chest," said Ms. Morales.
Northwood Police later identified the gunman as 26-year-old Gregory Willis, the estranged boyfriend of Ms. Dunbar.
Both lived in the house with their five month old son.
Earlier in the day, police say Ms. Dunbar filed a domestic violence charge against Mr. Willis.
Minutes after Zayden was shot, Mr. Willis was found dead on a nearby street.
He died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
"I don't care that he's dead. I don't have no remorse for him. I have nothing like that for him. I know it's something not nice to say but yet I know he didn't mean to shoot my son but he did shoot my son," said Mr. Ibarra.
Understandably, Zayden Morales has been traumatized by the incident.
His family says he's afraid being near windows, easily spooked and will need psychological help.
And they don't know when he'll be able to be with his second grade classmates at Birmingham Elementary School.
Still, the family is grateful the incident didn't turn out worse.
"The Lord was here with him. I'm just glad Zayden is here. Glad he can spend another Christmas with us," said Mr. Ibarra.
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