9-year-old still hospitalized after being stabbed by homeless man at downtown LA Target
Brayden Medina, 9, is still in the hospital, recovering from two severe stab wounds to the back of his shoulder after a homeless man attacked him with a butcher knife.
"It was more difficult when I found out that he was stabbed with the intention of being killed," said Brayden's cousin Lizette Molina. "That really broke my heart."
Molina said her little cousin's parents and siblings couldn't believe it when police revealed that the suspect told their innocent young son that he was going to kill him.
"It really made us feel horrible," said brother Jesse Medina. "It made me feel like this world is really bad."
His older brother says he wishes he had been there to protect him and all we can do now is try to help him forget the horror of what happened.
"What happened to my little brother, it should never happen to a kid," said Jesse.
The family thanked the Good Samaritans who helped apply pressure to Brayden's wounds.
"I just heard it was a little boy and I went out there and there was another team lead out there helping him," said one Good Samaritan.
Brayden's family also expressed their gratitude to the other victim, who was stabbed in her chest while trying to rescue the young boy.
"He's just very brave and I feel like that's what's helping him, and all of us, go through this," said Molina.
Molina and her family have started an online fundraiser to help with his therapy and they're calling on city leaders to do more about the homeless crisis in Los Angeles.
"We see in LA it has definitely increased — the amount of homeless we have," she said. "And the mental health problems we have... that is something that needs to be addressed and I hope that now, due to this happening, it gets more addressed."
