Buckeye domestic violence survivor recounts moments before being shot
BUCKEYE, Ariz. - Aniya Brown said she wanted to share a message with young people in relationships: Trust your gut.
She's now recovering from a domestic violence shooting and is determined to make a mark in life.
"It’s something that you usually hear about, not really live through," Brown said. "I’m just blessed. Very blessed to be here."
Brown, 20, didn’t want to show her face, but wanted her voice to be heard. The former college basketball player is a survivor.
"It was a crazy situation, but I made it through," she said.
She says on Nov. 19, her ex arrived at her home near McDowell Road and Sienna Hills Parkway uninvited and agitated.
"He came – I was telling him to leave. He wanted to go through my phone, he wants to ask me questions about a whole bunch of different stuff after I already told him that it was over," Brown said. "Our relationship was over."
Soon after, she says, he pulled out a gun.
"When I saw the threat, I was like, ‘OK, you’re kind of scaring me.’ His voice started changing. The look in his eye was different. My door automatically locks, so I had to get inside my pocket to get the key. By the time I finally told him I don’t want to talk anymore, I want to go inside, at that point, it’s when he fired the shots," she said.
Brown was shot eight times in front of her Buckeye home. Police say her ex then turned the gun on himself, and he died hours later.
As first responders rushed Brown to the hospital, she was determined to live.
"I just made sure to stay awake, just to keep breathing, answer all the questions the paramedics had inside the ambulance," she recalled.
Doctors discovered she had been shot eight times in her arm, hip, and side of her lower back. Miraculously, none of the hits pierced through vital organs.
"There was a lot of support in the hospital as well, telling me how grateful they are to be able to talk to me right now and that I am going to be OK, and how they have never seen anything like it," she recalled.
She was released from the hospital just in time for Thanksgiving.
"Knowing that I’m going to make a full recovery. Knowing that I can still kiss my siblings. Stuff like that is genuinely helping me. It really is," Brown said.
She wears a cast and needs a cane to walk around. She will need physical therapy, too.
More than ever, she’s holding on to one truth. She’s here for a reason.
"I’ve always felt like I've had a bigger purpose, that I was meant to help people. I’m a caregiver right now, so I’ve just always had that in my heart and now it just sort of solidifies that I am supposed to be here, and I have some stuff to do," Brown said.
She has big plans for her life.
She wants to get back to work post-recovery. She also wants to finish her college degree in business administration and open up group homes.
If you'd like to donate toward Brown's recovery, click here.
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Domestic violence resources
If you believe you are a victim of domestic violence, help is available. Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), or text START to 88788. A live online chat is also available.
Arizona Department of Economic Security - Domestic Violence Services
Mental health resources
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline provides free and confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to civilians and veterans. Support in Spanish is also available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org