NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – A 15-year-old girl who was at her North Miami Beach home when she was shot is speaking about the incident after spending nearly a month in a hospital.
"It got the point where I couldn't see nothing, like, it was just going dark," Melinda Michel said. "I was like, 'Mommy, mommy, I got shot,' and after that I don't remember nothing."
The teen spent nearly a month in the hospital and is just finding the strength to share her story.
"One to the chest and then it hit my heart, so I had to have heart surgery," Melinda said.
Melinda said she heard a knock at the door and when she went to answer it, she was shot in the chest.
Hooked up to machines and wires, Melinda underwent a series of surgeries. Her mother is grateful her only daughter managed to pull through.
"One thing I can say is thank God my daughter is alive, my only princess," Gina Pierre said.
Genesis Anderson is who police said pulled the trigger that night. The 24-year-old was arrested on a charge of attempted murder, something that provides some comfort for Melinda.
"How does that make you feel, that they did find him and put him behind bars?" Local 10 News reporter Shyann Malone asked.
"I feel great," Melinda said.
It's the scar that runs from the top of her chest to the bottom of her stomach that reminds the junior reserve officer in training about the day that could have ended her life.
"Sometimes I can't breathe that good and then I have chest pains," Melinda said. "Certain movements I can't do."