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Illinois shooting survivor defies the odds after taking bullet to the brain

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Illinois shooting survivor defies the odds after taking bullet to the brain

Leslie Reeves and Chris Smith were shot during their first date. Only Smith survived. A look at how he defied the odds to make a remarkable recovery.

The scene of the crime

reeves-crime-scene.jpg
The exterior of Chris Smith’s Farmersville, Illinois, home.

Illinois State Police


On the night before Thanksgiving 2021, Smith went on a first date with a woman named Leslie Reeves. The morning after, first responders found Smith in his Farmersville, Illinois, home with a bullet lodged in his brain. Reeves was dead.

Shooting victim in a coma

Chris Smith was placed in a medically induced coma after brain surgery.
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Chris Smith


EMTs rushed Smith to a hospital where he underwent brain surgery and was placed in a medically induced coma.

A bullet lodged in his brain

Chris Smith brain X-ray
An X-ray shows a bullet fragment in Chris Smith’s brain.

Chris Smith

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Fragments of the bullet remained in Smith’s brain. His doctors say that to retrieve the bullet could risk causing further damage. 

Family support

Sharon Costanza and Chris Smith
Sharon Costanza with her son Chris Smith during his hospitalization.

Chris Smith


Smith’s mother, Sharon Costanza, and sister, Ashli Holcomb, sat by his side during his recovery. Doctors told them chances were very low that Smith would return to his previous level of functioning.

No memory

Chris Smith
Chris Smith shares his story with “48 Hours.”

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CBS News


In January 2022,  Smith woke from his coma and asked where he was and what had happened. He remembered nothing from the night of the shooting. He had no memory of his date with Reeves, even though he’d been talking on the phone and messaging with her two weeks before the shooting. 

A poor prognosis

Dr. Victor Williams
Dr. Victor Williams, Chris Smith’s  neurosurgeon, talks with “48 Hours” correspondent Erin Moriarty.

CBS News


Due to Smith’s injuries, his neurosurgeon, Dr. Victor Williams, told Smith he likely would not be able to walk again.  Williams and his team were dedicated to doing everything they could to aid Chris’ recovery. 

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A life forever changed

Chris Smith
Chris Smith

CBS News


Smith’s left leg is partially paralyzed from his hip to his knee. From his knee to his toes, he is completely paralyzed.After he left the hospital, he had to move back in with his mother. 

Regaining his strength

Chris Smith
After intense physical therapy, Chris Smith has made incredible strides. He’s much stronger than when he awoke from a coma, but he discovered there are gaps in his memory

CBS News

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Most days, Smith goes to the gym and works on regaining his strength so that someday he’ll be able to walk without assistance.     

A survivor

Chris Smith and Michelle Albrecht
“She’s my angel,” Chris Smith says of Michelle Albrecht.

Chris Smith


Smith says he is determined to hold on tight to his new lease on life. He is back singing with his rock band. And he proposed to his fianceé, Michelle Albrecht. 

New aspirations

Chris Smith
Chris Smith is back as the lead singer with his rock band.

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‘Smith hopes to become a motivational speaker and has his own website.    

A miracle recovery

Sharon Costanza and Chris Smith
“I don’t know how he did make it. I don’t understand how he did. He’s a miracle,”  Sharon Costanza says of Chris Smith.

CBS News


Smith’s mother says his recovery is nothing short of a miracle.

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Trump vows to ‘take care of Cuba,’ praises Venezuela cooperation at summit

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Trump vows to ‘take care of Cuba,’ praises Venezuela cooperation at summit

President Trump signs a proclamation committing to countering cartel criminal activity at the Shield of the Americas Summit.

Rebecca Blackwell/AP


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Rebecca Blackwell/AP

President Trump on Saturday launched the Shield of the Americas Summit – a coalition of Latin American leaders – with a pledge to “take care of Cuba,” as the United States increases its intervention in the region.

“Many of you have come today and they say, ‘I hope you can take care of Cuba.’ Because you have problems with Cuba, right?,” Trump said to the gathering of Latin American leadership.

“I was surprised, but four of you said, actually, ‘Could you do us a favor?’ Take care of Cuba.’ I’ll take care of it, ok?” he continued to applause from the crowd.

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Attending the meeting were the leaders of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, and Trinidad and Tobago. The event was hosted at the Trump National Doral Miami golf course in Doral, Florida.

His comments follow tension between Cuba and U.S. and as many Cuban-Americans are hoping for a change in regime for the communist nation.

The Trump administration has eased a blockade of Venezuelan oil, allowing some private sector oil sales to Cuba. The country has been experiencing fuel shortages and blackouts that have left millions without power, according to The Associated Press.

Since the United States’ capture and arrest of Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, in January, those who wish to see Cuba’s government toppled see Trump’s stance on foreign intervention as a signal that America might similarly help orchestrate the ouster of Cuba’s Miguel Díaz-Canel.

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Speaking to the change in Venezuela’s leadership since Maduro’s capture, Trump praised acting-President Delcy Rodríguez for her cooperation with the United States.

“She’s doing a great job because she’s working with us. If she wasn’t working with us, I would not say she’s doing a great job. In fact, she wasn’t working with us, I’d say she’s doing a very poor job, unacceptable, but she’s doing a great job,” Trump said.

He continued that because of U.S. assistance, Venezuela’s economic picture was considerably sunnier because of American oil exports and forthcoming gold and mineral trades.

Trump has hailed the transition from Maduro’s leadership is the model for regime changes.

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Iran warns it will hit US bases across region hours after president’s apology

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Iran warns it will hit US bases across region hours after president’s apology

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Cleveland playground now a place of mourning for two girls found in suitcases

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Cleveland playground now a place of mourning for two girls found in suitcases

It’s called Saranac Playground, and when the weather is nice it becomes a magnet for the children who live on the east side of Cleveland.

But in recent days, this small patch of green has been visited by a stream of mourners seeking to pay their respects to two little girls who were found there stuffed inside suitcases and buried in shallow graves.

In the days since the bodies of 8-year-old Mila Chatman and her half-sibling, 10-year-old Amor Wilson, were found on Monday, a shrine of stuffed animals and flowers has grown.

So has the mystery surrounding their deaths.

Their mother, 28-year-old Aliyah Henderson, has been charged with two counts of aggravated murder.

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During her first court appearance on Friday in Cleveland Municipal Court, she was not asked about the tragedy that has landed her in handcuffs, shocked her hometown and drawn national attention.

Municipal Court Judge Jeffrey Johnson set Henderson’s bond at $2 million, citing “the nature of the allegations” and his concern for public safety.

Dressed in a blue sweatshirt and surrounded by court officers, Henderson remained impassive.

“Thank you” were the only words she uttered during the brief hearing, in response to the judge wishing her good luck.

Earlier, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Kristine Travaglini revealed at the hearing that the bodies of the little girls were “badly decomposed.”

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So far, the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office has not said how and when the little girls died, but did confirm that a DNA investigation showed they were related as half-siblings.

Cleveland Police Chief Dorothy Todd said neither child had been dismembered.

Henderson, who lives near Saranac Playground, had another child living at her home when police took her into custody on Wednesday, Todd said earlier this week.

The Department of Children and Family Services has taken custody of the child, who appears to be in good health, Todd said. But she did not provide any other information about the child.

A man who had been walking his dog reported the grim discovery on Monday at the playground, which is located near an all-boys public school called the Ginn Academy.

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Responding to the 911 call, Cleveland homicide detectives confirmed the man’s dog had located the body of a young girl, and they quickly found a second shallow grave with a suitcase that contained another body.

“It was like a pile of dirt, and she stopped to sniff … and she was taking too long,” Phillip Donaldson told WEWS-TV. “So I went back and looked, and it was a suitcase that was half-buried, and I pulled it up and looked in it, and it was a head. Somebody’s head in it.”

Donaldson said that pile of dirt had been there for at least a week.

On Thursday, Deshaun Chatman, who said he was the father of Mila Chatman, visited the spot where the girl had been buried. He told local reporters that he had not had any contact with his daughter for several years. He said Henderson kept “ducking” him and that he’d been in touch with DCFS numerous times about getting custody of Mila.

“I just feel useless,” Chatman said. “I couldn’t save my daughter.”

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Asked about Deshaun Chatman’s assertion that he had been trying get custody of his daughter, Cuyahoga County spokesperson Jennifer Ciaccia in a statement called the girls’ deaths “a tragedy for their families and our entire community” and declined to disclose any further information, citing an active criminal investigation and confidentiality obligations under Ohio law.

NBC News has reached out to Henderson’s mother for comment.

Back in 2019, Henderson and her daughters were mentioned in a Cleveland Plain Dealer article about a local hospital’s program to help struggling families.

It featured a photo of a smiling Henderson holding then 3-year-old Amor on her lap and Henderson’s mother holding Mila, who was almost 2 at the time.

“I could really use the help,” Henderson said in the story.

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