she s the little girl who won the heart of a big city. they called you the miracle baby. why did they call you that? yay shot in the head at point blank range there was a pillow and it had blood on it. as she fought to live, this detective vowed to catch whoever left treated today. soon, he turned up a promising lead. in the hospital she battled back. to know that she had survived was a pretty powerful moment. not just her body but her mind. they come in the daycare and erica said don t let them heard me. investigators found what could be a vital clue but could it be enough to crack the case? hello, welcome to dateline. i m craig melvin. it all started with a crime that not even police could believe. a little girl. just a toddler. shot in the head, deliberately. left for dead by a killer who, then, disappeared. but a detective vowed to crack this case, no matter how long it took. one of the biggest attractions at the louisville zoo was a floppy you
that was probably a little bit of emotion spilling over. there was a baby shot and there was an adult that was killed. we were expecting that at that point the baby to die. erica had practically flatlined that are high-speed policed turban delivered to children s hospital she was rushed into the emergency room where doctors and nurses worked frank thickly to stabilizer. her vital signs were barely measurable. dr. , thomas morey ali, a pediatric surgeon performed surgery on the gunshot erica said these were kept sense of her skull and brain, pre off. this is where you can see part of the bullet, and broken bone. the surgeons lifesaving mission was to clean the fragments from america s hand, repair the wounds and preserve bring function if possible. erica actually was lucky in
part of the bullet, and broken bone. the surgeons lifesaving mission was to clean the fragments from america s hand, repair the wounds and preserve bring function if possible. erica actually was lucky in one way. the angle of the bullet wasn t straight through the brain, but downward, exiting under her chin. what a blessing as opposed to the bullet going through and damaging the skull and everything. and doctor moriarty, was it relieved that the bullet only struck the frontal lobe, which can absorb injury better, especially, in the very young. less than three years, old the brain s ability to repair is very remarkable. after a delicate three and a half hour surgery, doctor moriarty, encouraged by the bullet and the bone fragment of the prop image were gone. but despite the repair, brain injuries are unpredictable. and doctor moriarty urged