Kentucky boy, 5, now permanently blind after shots fired into home

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - A 5-year-old boy is now permanently blind after someone fired shots into a home.

Malakai Roberts will never see again.

“He doesn’t really understand that he won’t be able to see anymore,” family friend Dyana Bowens said.

Roberts’ family is wondering how you even begin to tell a 5-year-old he was shot in the head and is now blind. What words do you use to tell a little boy, who loved his tablet and video games, that he’ll never see his favorite characters again?

“He’s just such a sweet kid,” Bowens said. “He didn’t deserve this.”

Bowens lived with Cacy Roberts, Malakai and his 3-year-old sibling in a home on Catera Trace in Lexington.

“I was asleep and I woke up to her screaming,” Bowens said. “She ran in my room. She’s covered in blood. She said, ‘Call the cops, Malakai’s been shot.’”.

Bowens said someone fired 10 bullets into the home around 2 a.m. Monday. One went straight through Malakai’s temple as he slept. The family said it miraculously missed his brain by two centimeters.

“Whoever did this just needs to know what they’ve done,” Bowens said.

The same bullet that went through Malakai’s head lodged itself into his mom’s arm. Doctors say it would do more harm than good to remove it.

The bullet that blinded Malakai now serves as a permanent reminder of the horrible and already unforgettable night.

There were five shootings into homes in Lexington that same night. Police say they don’t believe the shootings are connected.

They do not have a suspect in the Catera Trace shooting.

The family has created Gofundme pages to help cover medical costs. You can visit those pages here and here.

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