"Why would you do this me," Teen shot 12 times faces long road to recovery
The 14-year-old boy who was shot a dozen times Monday night is speaking directly to whoever fired their gun at him. Kentrell Collier remains at Nebraska Medicine and faces a long road to recovery. "Why would you do this to me? I didn't deserve it. I was just walking," Kentrell Collier said from his hospital bed. It's something Kentrell Collier asked his mother the moment he woke up from surgery but it's a question Yolanda Collier can't answer. "He can't go back to school for a long time. He doesn't deserve this, he's not a bad kid, he's not in the streets or gangs or anything," Yolanda Collier said. She doesn't understand why anyone would want to shoot her son. Kentrell Collier went from shooting lay-ups at his Benson High School basketball game to being hit by gunfire just hours later. Monday night after the game, Kentrell Collier went on a walk when his mom said she heard 15 gunshots. "I sat there for a minute and thought, 'No,' but my intuition wouldn't let me think that so I got up," Yolanda Collier said. She drove to the scene near 44th Street and Fontenelle Boulevard where Omaha police officers confirmed her intuition was right. "He begged them. He said, 'Mom, I kept telling them stop please no,' my baby begged them to stop shooting and they kept shooting him," Yolanda Collier said. "For a bullet to be in the bottom of his foot, you guys kept shooting at my son."Now his dreams of playing basketball in high school, going to college and being a pro player are on hold."From the night he came in they said they'd seen 12 holes from here his back his legs an the bottom of his feet," Yolanda Collier said. Doctors say it's unclear if he'll ever play again. "Kentrell hearing them talk about this stuff is really hard for him. His emotions are up and down because he wants to play basketball again," Yolanda Collier said. Now, Yolanda Collier is asking for the community's help to identify the people who did this to her son. "That's all I want is for justice for my baby," Yolanda Collier said. With it being just days before Christmas, doctors told Yolanda Collier that even if Kentrell Collier is released from the hospital he will likely spend his holidays in a rehab facility. You can donate to the Collier family here. Police are looking for a white SUV connected to this case. Investigators said they think one of the suspects is a Black male that has dreadlocks and blond tips. He was also last seen wearing skinny jeans and a white hooded sweatshirt. Anyone with tips in this case is encouraged to call Crime Stoppers at 402-444-7867. Click here for the latest headlines from KETV NewsWatch 7
