LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The month of May was almost a month Jamilia Chillers never wanted to remember.
"I did not even realize I was hit. I fell, I got up and I fell again and I knew something was wrong," Chillers said.
Chillers was struck in the leg in the crossfire of a shooting at her apartment complex late at night on May 2. She was rushed to the hospital.
"They know that she got shot, but I'm trying to make it seem like something else happened," 14-year-old Cortez Taylor Jr. said about explaining the incident to his four younger siblings.
While Chillers was in the hospital recovering, her apartment was burglarized.
"The day I woke up out of surgery I got a lot of calls. People were asking me, 'Are you home?' And I said 'No,' and they said, 'Well, there's a lot of people in your apartment,'" Chillers recalled.
She lives in a Metro Housing Authority property in Park Hill with an officer who periodically checks on it -- Montrell Crawford.
"Ms. Chillers came to me, wanted me to make a report about someone breaking into her apartment. I was able to make the report, but some of the things that was mentioned that was stolen was essentials; cups, spoons, tissue... So, I went above and beyond," Crawford said.
Crawford and Major Russell Miller, head of the 2nd division, embarked on a fundraising campaign to get anything and everything that could help with family.
"It took eight days, because I was counting the days," Crawford said.
On Friday morning, LMPD squad cars lined up with new mattresses, gift cards to Kroger and Walmart, new bikes and an entire pick-up truck full of food for them.
"The bike is my second favorite. My first favorite was the food because we haven't been eating very much," 10-year-old Cormillo Taylor said.
"It's lifting us all the way up. I see a smile on their faces. I haven't seen a smile on their faces in a couple weeks," Cortez said.
Crawford said the donations were about half from LMPD, and half from community organizations and businesses, such as Heathers Furniture, INSTOCK, Broadway Furniture, Dare to Care, Kim Moore with Joshua Community Connectors, Metro United Way and the Office of Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods.
In addition to the donations dropped off Friday, Crawford and Russell Miller helped Chillers' oldest son Jaedyn get ready for his graduation from Breckenridge Metro High School. They took him to get his first suit and attended his graduation alongside him.
"Yeah, it was really nice to see everybody. It was just all eyes on me because of my suit. It couldn't have happened without Officer Crawford and Major Miller," Jaedyn said.
"Bond unbreakable," Chillers said. "They made sure my son looked nice on graduation. And not even knowing my son and his personality really and who he is on other things. They made sure he looked very spiffy."
"Today is very rewarding," Crawford said, "Today is a day I'll never forget."
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