BOSTON — Aleyah Fernandes, the 25 year old woman left paralyzed after an early October shooting in Roxbury told me, from her hospital bed, that she is on a long road to recovery.
“I’m definitely doing a lot better than what I was doing when this first happened.”
The alleged shooter, 24-year-old Shawn Walker, already facing various gun charges, is now charged in Aleyah’s shooting.
It all happened on October 8th at four o’clock in the afternoon right in front of the Vasquez Restaurant on Dudley Street .
It is where authorities believe Aleyah and her boyfriend innocently walked into a hail of bullets.
“The shooter fired roughly 20 shots, spraying the restaurant with numerous bullet holes. There were people inside, thankfully no one inside was struck,” Prosecutor Greg Galizio said in court.
Fernandez described how she shot right in front of her boyfriend.
“We heard what sounded like a machine gun. And he told me to duck, I ducked. I thought it was done. And when I went to get back up, I got shot in my spinal cord and I fell forward to the ground, she said.
Investigators say the intended target was another man who, at the last minute, noticed a masked gunman approaching and he ducked into the restaurant to escape.
Authorities say they have video evidence from city street cameras showing Walker and four other men get into a stolen Hyundai, drive to the scene, and then quickly drive away.
Walker fingerprints were allegedly recovered from inside the stolen car.
Another man, Devanta Stinson, was recently arrested in the case.
As for Alyeah, she can’t believe how violent her city has become.
“Before this happened, I was homeless for a year. And I just gained back my independence. I got my own room. And I got a good paying job. I was doing so good. And then this happened. And it was like, I feel like it was ripped away from me,” she said.
Shawn Walker was ordered held without bail on his alleged probation violations.
It is possible he could be arraigned in Roxbury District Court for the shooting as early as Friday.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
©2025 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/7QOJU3BNCJERBNKJC5LWTBYFLU.png)
