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Considered Miracle As A Baby, Girl, 10, Shot Dead By Cousin

News Channel 8 photo by JOE MARTIN

The Polk County Sheriff's Office responded to 424 Third Street S.W. in Fort Meade.

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SAMARA SODOS

News Channel 8

Published: December 23, 2008

Updated: 12/24/2008 02:44 pm

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  Miracle Johnson

Miracle Johnson only weighed about a pound when she was born prematurely, and it took nurturing and nursing to get her to where she needed to be in life, said Alvin Mitchell, a family member.

Doctors said she wouldn't be able to walk. But as a child she overcame that challenge and learned how to do it. She always seemed to adapt and overcome, Mitchell said.

On Tuesday afternoon, the 10-year-old girl died at her adoptive great-grandmother's house after an 11-year-old cousin visiting her Fort Meade home for Christmas shot her with a gun found in the bedroom, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said.

The semiautomatic handgun is registered to Miracle's uncle, 24-year-old Ivory Demetrius Johnson.

Deputies weren't sure Tuesday how the boy, Jacques Thomas, got access to the gun. Ivory Johnson was not home when the shooting occurred. The gun was kept in the bedroom he shared with Miracle, sheriff's spokeswoman Donna Wood said.

"She was a loving person, one that always tried to put a smile on your face and wasn't so much concerned about the smile on hers," Mitchell said Tuesday of Miracle Johnson, so named because of her premature birth.

Miracle, Jacques and Jacques' 5-year-old sibling, Shnijah Wiggins, were playing in the bedroom before the shooting occurred, authorities say.

Jacques' 8-year-old brother, Joshua Wiggins, was walking into the bedroom when the gun fired, investigators say.

The great-grandmother, Authur Ree Murry, 79, had adopted Miracle and was hosting Jacquez and his siblings over the holidays, according to Judd.

Jacques, Shnijah and Joshua are from Daytona Beach.

Murry was home at the time of the shooting and was "exceptionally distraught," Judd said Tuesday. "Quite frankly, we're all distraught."

Alvin Mitchell is the nephew of Murry, who was in the kitchen at the time of the shooting.

Mitchell, a pastor, was with the family Tuesday night. He said everyone is devastated.

"I'm saddened that we would lose such a heartwarming young girl in our family," Mitchell said. "Not only that – I'm saddened for the young man that is going to have to experience this accident for the rest of his life."

Mitchell said the shooting highlights the need for gun safety.

Deputies are still investigating how the gun came to be in the child's possession. No charges have been filed.

Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at (813) 259-7691.

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