CINCINNATI — The family of a teen injured in a mass shooting in the West End received a surprise ahead of the holidays.
Cincinnati College Preparatory Academy's marching band presented 15-year-old Raniyah Dailey and her family with a basket filled with Thanksgiving foods.
Dailey was one of five people injured when someone in a dark sedan fired into a crowd of adults and children near Laurel Playground. Dominic Davis, 11, was killed in the shooting. Her family said they are just happy she is alive.
"I know that she's grateful because that's the way that I taught her," said Nalisha Brown, Dailey's mother. "She's in good spirits, she got a little discouraged when she found out that there was two."
The "two" Brown is referring to are the two bullets that remain inside her daughter's back following the shooting. Brown said she was just feet away from Dailey when the shooting occurred, still wondering how she avoided getting hit.
This is 15 year old Raniyah Dailey. She survived the shooting 2.5 weeks ago in the West End. She has two bullets still in her back. Cincinnati College Preparatory Academy surprised her with some love tonight @WCPO 11pm pic.twitter.com/4WZKNecKhS
— Bret Buganski (@Bret_Buganski) November 22, 2023
The shooting, she said, is not the first tragedy her family has dealt with in recent years.
"I lost a kid in 2017 to suicide, so I was just like, 'This cannot be happening to me again.' And, you know, the rest is kind of like a blur," Brown said.
More than two weeks later, the CCPA marching band not only surprised the family with food, but also a performance in the street.
"Oftentimes, you don't think people ... actually care, so this was amazing to me," Brown said.
Eryk McDaniel, CCPA's band director, said the group wanted to bring some joy and love to a household that had been through so much.
"Just like death could've happened in an instant, so can love," said McDaniel. "We want to be that light. It's all about love — you're all I need, and we wanted her to know that she is somebody that we need."
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