Girl put life on line for mother
8-year-old lunged at man who forced his way into car
December 5, 2007
BY M.L. ELRICK
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
As her mother lay bleeding from two gunshot wounds and a family friend frantically called police, 8-year-old Alexia Parker lunged at an ex-con who apparently planned to kill them all.
On Tuesday, Alexia was recovering from multiple gunshot wounds, many to the head, in a Detroit hospital, said Aisha Ford, the friend who repeatedly called 911 in a desperate attempt to thwart 29-year-old Kelvin (Bird) Tillie.
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Tillie is being held without bond in the Wayne County Jail on multiple charges, including assault with intent to commit murder, after police said he shot Alexia and her mother, Selietha Parker, around midnight Sunday.
Ford said Alexia lost her right eye and is awaiting an operation and lengthy therapy after the assault at an east side gas station. Parker, who was shot in the head and arm, has been released from the hospital, Ford said.
As brutal as the ordeal was, Ford said she is grateful they are all alive.
She told the Free Press on Tuesday that it all started when she went to pick up Alexia and her mom Saturday so they could spend the night at her house. The Parkers' furnace was out and they needed a warm place to stay.
Ford said she saw a man coming from behind the Parkers' home after she pulled up, but figured it was a repairman.
Alexia seemed happy as she stepped out of the house, asking Ford about her son.
It wasn't until they were about to pull away that Ford said she realized the man was Tillie, Parker's ex-boyfriend.
"When he entered into my car he entered with the gun showing," Ford said, adding that she asked him, "Why you got that gun around that baby?"
Tillie told her not to call the cops, Ford said.
"He was like a bomb just ready to explode."
Ford said Tillie ordered her to drive them to 6 Mile. She said he didn't say where, just that she needed to drive.
"He just had so much anger, hatred," she said. "I knew I was not going to make it that night if I didn't get out of the car."
At that point, Ford was grateful she drove a gas guzzling Ford Expedition SUV. Although she had put $15 worth of gas into the car, the low fuel light flashed on.
Ford said she told Tillie she needed to get some gas right away, and pulled into the Fast Stop gas station on East 7 Mile.
She said Tillie gave her $10 and told her to put $5 worth of gas into the SUV.
But as Tillie went inside the station to pay, she used her cell phone to call 911 for help.
A police report describes a tense situation inside and outside the SUV.
After calling for help, Ford tried to stretch out the amount of time it takes to pump less than two gallons of gas.
"Hoping the police would arrive" Ford "kept slowly cutting the pump off, trying to stall," the report said.
Meanwhile, it said Tillie was losing his cool.
"She's taking too long. She better hurry up before I start shooting," the report quoted Tillie as saying while Parker begged him to calm him down and "to not do this with her daughter ... in the car."
Playing for more time, Ford took another $5 into the gas station and told the attendant, "I don't need the gas, I'm waiting for the police."
The report says the attendant "dialed 911 three times before connecting with a 911 operator."
It said he heard Ford "yell into the phone 'Why hadn't you come? He's gonna shoot us!' " moments before Tillie began firing.
After watching her mother get shot, Alexia "jumped into the front seat, trying to protect her mom and stop" Tillie, the police report said.
The report added that Tillie "without hesitation, immediately fired six shots into" Alexia who "collapsed, critically injured."
The report says Parker escaped from the car and ran toward the store screaming, "He shot my baby!"
Police showed up just after the shooting stopped and arrested Tillie. They found Alexia "huddled on the floorboard beneath the steering wheel."
Alexia was rushed to a hospital in critical condition. But Ford said Tuesday that she was doing well.
Tillie, who was arraigned Monday, faces life in prison if convicted of the charges.
He has previous convictions for assault with intent to rob while armed, home invasion and resisting arrest. He has been on parole since April.
