The mother of a five-year-old shot in a drive-by shooting spoke out Friday pleading for the public's help.
Vanessa Sanchez never thought her son, Joel Pitayo, would be the one getting hit in the safety of their home.
Pitayo is back to playing on his tablet in the same room where he almost lost his life Tuesday night.
"He ran out the bedroom crying and screaming, I figured he was scared and it turns out he got hit, cause he started screaming and there was blood," Sanchez said.
The five-year-old spent two days at Children's Mercy Hospital where his kindergarten teacher brought dozens of cards from his Gladstone elementary classmates.
"I've grown up in the northeast my whole life and I’ve never had any problem like this until now and now I have three kids so it's scarier," Sanchez said.
She can't understand why her little boy became a statistic in the rising number of drive-by shootings in Kansas City.
According to a KCPD analysis, as of August of this year there have been 245 drive-by shootings. Homes were hit in 69 of those cases.
"You just don't do that," Sanchez said. "You don't just shoot up people's houses not knowing if you're going to hit a child."
Detectives have told Sanchez there haven't been any tips or leads her case.
"It's my child this time, next time whose turn is it going to be next time they're going to want the same help," Sanchez said.
In the meantime she's trying to restore a sense of normalcy in Joel's life.
"Just reassuring his safety, reassuring that's he's going to be ok nothing is going to happen," Sanchez said.
She adds Joel, who want to be a police officer, will go back to school Monday.
If you live in the area and noticed anything unusually Tuesday night call police or the KC Crimestoppers hotline 816-474-TIPS (8477).
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Andres Gutierrez can be reached at andres.gutierrez@kshb.com
