SAN ANTONIO — A woman who dodged almost forty bullets in a recent east-side drive-by shooting said she wants justice for people like herself, innocent bystanders who have to dive for cover.
Alvenia Sneed said she hit the floor on the night of September 6, when someone filled her home on Dafoste Street with lead.
Bullets traveled completely through her home, penetrating every interior wall, with some lodging in the rear of the house and one even traveling out a back window. Sneed said her 36-year-old son, Steve Pickens, was the target of the attack.
Paralyzed from the neck down from a previous shooting attack, Pickens was trapped in his motorized wheelchair and could not avoid the flying bullets. Pickens was shot in the head and died two days later.
“I fell on the ground and I said, 'Oh my! Why is this going on?’" Sneed said. "This boy is paralyzed from his neck down and he's just like a sitting duck. He can't do nothing for himself.”
Sneed said her friends have been telling her about taunts that have been posted on social media about the attack.
“They've been on Facebook bragging about it, how they killed him. People tell me about it and I tell them, you know I'm not going to go on Facebook and look at that stuff because I feel like they are cowards because why in the world are they going to go brag about what they did to a person that couldn't even help himself?” Sneed said.
Pickens' sister, Tamika Davis, is devastated about the loss of her only brother. “I'm sad and I'm mad. I'm sad because that was my only brother and we were only two siblings and, you know, we grew up together and I took care of my brother for most of his life,” Davis said. “And I'm mad because they came, they shot into a home, and they didn't know who was in this house, and they didn't care who was in this house.”
Davis said since the attack, the family has been exceptionally cautious, afraid of another round of violence.
“I'm nervous to be on this side of town. When I drop my Mom off I circle, I don't even stay parked. It's just ridiculous. I circle the block a few times until she gets her clothes. She just runs in and runs out and gathers her belongings and I pick her up and we go on,” Davis said.
Sneed said the threat of death is real. “They knew I was in the house and they didn't care who they killed, so they may try to kill me,” Sneed said.
To the shooters, Sneed said, "It's sad to see that you could go so far to come and kill somebody in a wheelchair! Paralyzed! Couldn't even defend himself!”
The family said because Pickens was involved in gang activity when he was younger, they do not believe the investigation into his death is a priority for police.
Sneed said “I don't think they will be looking for those guys at all.”
Sneed said Pickens had been involved in the Black Lives Matter movement, advocating for non-violence at City Council meetings and speaking on the topic at public gatherings.
Sneed said she takes comfort in the knowledge that her son had a relationship with God.
“My son, at the end of the day, had given his life to the most high and I know he's in heaven,” Sneed said.
Davis added, “All this crime, it needs to stop. Innocent people are being put in harm’s way. They’re shooting at people, not caring who they hit.”
San Antonio Police say no arrests have been made and they have few clues.
Police urge anyone with information to call the homicide division at 210-207-7635.