About a year ago, Kierra Maxwell sustained ten gunshot wounds in her driveway on Northmoor Avenue in Raleigh and remarkably survived. Her boyfriend, Maurice Dorsey, unfortunately succumbed to his injuries.
“After the first two shots, he fell into me. I had to turn into the wall. It was me just getting it. Maurice was already down. I was like, ‘Oh man,'” Maxwell told Fox13 Memphis. “I didn’t want to look down because I thought I got hit in the stomach. Like I know I got hit in the stomach.”
The incident occurred around 9:00 p.m. when assailants emerged from the bushes and discharged firearms.
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Maxwell, who was pregnant at the time, was shot outside her Memphis home, but her stomach was remarkably unharmed. Her 8-year-old son helped save her by pulling her to safety during the attack.
“He said, ‘Mama.’ I told him to come here. I called him to the front edge of the door. I told him to snatch me from the top and yank me as hard as you could. I pulled myself up with my arms,” Maxwell recounted.
Maxwell was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. She spent at least two weeks hospitalized, and doctors were concerned she might lose her leg.
“I lost my Achilles’ heel, I lost my whole back of my left leg,” she recounted.
Melody Martin, the victim’s mother, told the outlet, “I was just praying to God that I wouldn’t have to make the decision of whether to save my daughter’s life or my grandson’s life.”
Fortunately, Maxwell’s baby survived. Five months later, she gave birth to her son, still fitted with an external fixator on her leg. Despite a painful and lengthy recovery, Maxwell bravely fights every day for her two young sons.
“After getting shot like 10x, it hurts everyday. I just get up and try to walk just to show them the resilience and just show them even if it hurts, turn that pain into something else and do it,” she said.
Memphis Police are continuing their intensive investigation into the shooting incident; however, as of now, no arrests have been made.
This tragic incident has deeply affected the Memphis community, prompting demands for increased protection and the deployment of the National Guard within the city.
According to the Commercial Appeal, Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis announced at a town hall on September 30 that the first deployment of the National Guard to Memphis is expected within weeks. While the exact number of National Guard members is not yet known, officials hope they will assist with “non-public safety issues” in the city.
Nevertheless, Fox13 Memphis reported that on October 1, as part of President Donald Trump’s crime-fighting initiative for Memphis, a federal law enforcement task force had begun operations in the city. According to the outlet, the Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller rallied members of this task force.
The officials met with Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, a Republican who supports the project. They then toured a staging area for the Memphis Safe Task Force before addressing federal, state, and local law enforcement officers and Tennessee National Guard members.
Miller described the task force as an “all of government, unlimited support operation” that would make the city “safer than any of you could ever possibly imagine.” He predicted that this would lead to an influx of “businesses and investment,” making Memphis “richer than ever before.”
