On 10 December 2017, the life of 19-year-old Miss Jamie Richards-Hogland changed forever. Just a minute before, she was a carefree teen loved by her parents heading into her second year at Tarleton State University. When someone knocked on the door of her Stephenville apartment, she kindly opened, unknowing that this action would change everything.
In the next second, she was shot in the face in a case of mistaken identity. 26-year-old Shawn Patrick Layton shot her, thinking she was involved in a drug deal gone wrong.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">ICYMI – SHAWN PATRICK LAYTON (26) ARRESTED FOR THE SHOOTING OF JAMIE RICHARDS – The Region 6 Special Operations… <a href="https://t.co/x1ePFlAAyN">https://t.co/x1ePFlAAyN</a></p>— The Flash News (@flasherathnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/flasherathnews/status/941671166103695360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 15, 2017</a></blockquote>
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The police classified the case as "mistaken identity over drug-related issues."
The shooting severed Jamie’s spine, but she was still able to tell responding officers the description of her shooter. Another resident of the building later admitted that Mr. Layton probably came from him as a "disgruntled" marijuana buyer.
The parents of Miss Jamie Richards-Hogland have now confirmed in a statement what everyone already feared that their daughter is paralyzed from the shoulders down and is "enduring a tremendous amount of pain, frustration, and anxiety."
The statement read: "We would like to thank our family, friends, first responders and members of the medical community who have worked diligently to care for our daughter."
"We feel extremely blessed that Jamie is alive and we continue to pray for a miracle to occur."
Her family has set up a GoFundMe account to help with future medical expenses. At the time of writing, caring community members had already given some $13,000.
Source:
"drugdeal gone wrong"
and yet another mysterious case for the CIA X-files