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Teen Recovering From Gunshot To Head

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 29, 2007

Updated: 10/01/2007 03:34 pm

CLEARWATER - A 17-year-old whom authorities say was shot in the back of the head Friday by a 16-year-old passenger while she was driving has been moved out of the intensive care unit, her father said today.

Page Booking Photo

"She's doing better," Michael Tarver said of his daughter, Deaonna.

The Bayside High School student is conscious, and although she still needs surgery to clean the wound, her condition has improved significantly since Friday evening, said her father, an investigator with the Pinellas-Pasco Public Defender's Office.

Tarver was shot by Alexander Page about 5:30 p.m. Friday as she was driving a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee, said Pinellas County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Jim Bordner. There were three other teenagers in the vehicle.

Page has been charged with attempted murder and was being held at the Pinellas County Juvenile Assessment Center.

Tarver had argued with Page, who was in the back seat, Bordner said. As she turned from North Bay Hills Boulevard on State Road 580, Page shot her once in the back of the head with a .22-caliber handgun, Bordner said. One of the other passengers brought the slow-moving Jeep to a stop, and Page fled on foot, Bordner said.

The other teens drove Tarver to Mease Countryside Hospital in Safety Harbor, and she was transported to Bayfront Medical Center, Bordner said.

She was moved out of the intensive care unit Sunday, her father said.

The reason for the argument remains unknown, her father said. "We still don't know that." He called the shooting "insane."

"There's no justification," he said.

The Tarvers live at 1509 West Virginia Lane, where Michael Tarver spoke briefly today at his doorstep.

Page, who was arrested on a charge of attempted murder, lives with his family at 1612 County Lane West, a couple blocks from the Tarvers' home.

A woman who answered the door today at Page's home would not comment.

Andrea Zahn, Pinellas County school system spokeswoman, said counselors were at the ready for grief counseling at Bayside this morning, but no students sought any.

Bayside is an alternative school.

Page attends Clearwater High School.

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.

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