Daytona Beach, FL – He’s lost sight in one of his eyes, but he didn’t lose his life.
21-year-old Micah Parham – the only survivor of the 3 Bethune-Cookman University students shot at a Daytona Beach apartment complex last September – spoke to the media about his ordeal at a press conference held Wednesday morning at Daytona Beach Police Department headquarters.
DBPD says Parham was shot at least 6 times by a roommate – 27-year-old York Zed Bodden – on the afternoon of September 17th at the Carolina Club Apartments near the intersection of Dunn Avenue and North Williamson Boulevard.
Another of Parham’s roommates – 21-year-old Timesha Carswell – and 19-year-old Diona McDonald died later on that day from bullet wounds to the head as Bodden fled to the South Florida area, where he was caught a day later at a home in North Miami.
Bodden – who police believe grabbed a gun and shot all 3 while he was being kicked out of the apartment over a rent money dispute – hung himself in his jail cell the day after his capture, according to DBPD.
Another man who was asked by Bodden’s roommates to help them evict Bodden from the apartment witnessed the entire incident and managed to run from the scene with minor injuries, according to DBPD Chief Mike Chitwood.
“It’s unbelievable to see [Parham] here today from what we saw before,” Chitwood added during the press conference. “When I visited him several days after the shooting, he was still touch and go. To see this young man [today] is a testament to how powerful and how great God is. Without God, this wouldn’t have happened.”
One of the bullets hit Parham’s left eye, taking away that eye and leaving him clinging to life on a ventilator.
But the Michigan native – currently a junior at BCU who plans to become a college professor after getting his double major in music and psychology – says he wants to use this experience in as positive a way as he can now that he’s on the mend.
He also gave thanks to everyone who prayed for him and especially to Sidney Washington for saving his life. That’s the man DBPD says managed to run away unscathed from the apartment during the shooting and call the police for help.
“Without him, maybe [police arrive] 10 minutes later, I wouldn’t be here,” Parham added.
Parham’s mother – Gloria Parham – was by her son’s side at the conference and also gave thanks to DBPD, BCU and those who work at her son’s 2 jobs for the support they gave.
“I don’t want to start naming names because I will miss someone,” Parham’s mother said.
BCU President Edison Jackson was also at the conference and admitted that the incident has caused them to re-think how to approach violent situations, even though this particular incident didn’t happen on campus.
“We gotta talk about how we do more to educate our students to understand there’s a better way of dealing with conflict,” Jackson stated. “So many of our students have come out of situations where the gun may be the last resort and the only resort.”
Copyright 2015 Southern Stone Communications.