Mother of 14-year-old shooting victim speaks out

Las Vegas, Nev. (FOX5) – Takeila Peebles tells FOX5 she’s taking it one day at a time, two weeks after her 14-year-old son and her 12-year-old neighbor were shot in the Centennial Hills neighborhood near Durango and Elkhorn.

“Just because they say he’s fine, that doesn’t mean there’s no complications from whatever happened with the wounds,” Peebles said of her son, who was shot five times in the incident. “So I’m still dealing with the same day, every day.”

Peebles was on unpaid leave until July.

“Basil, it’s draining me,” she said of the past two weeks. “Because I need to figure out how I care and not lose everything I worked so hard for that had nothing to do with us.”

Two suspects have been arrested in the shooting: 17-year-old Hakeem Collette, who is being charged as an adult, and a 15-year-old, whose name has not been released. Both face two counts of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder, among other charges. Peebles says both suspects are complete strangers.

Peebles feels lucky he didn’t lose his son in the shooting.

“I just think someone was there as an angel,” he said. “Of course I looked at him and held him and said, ‘It wasn’t your time.’

It’s a long road ahead for the family, as the 14-year-old victim still needs to recover physically and mentally.

“Anybody you look at right now could be that person,” Peebles said, noting that her son had no connection to the shooters. “How can I tell someone who was shot five times at age 14 not to look at everyone the same?”

Peebles tells FOX5 she wants to know why her son was shot, but has shown kindness and understanding to the suspects.

“I am upset. But at the same time, as a parent, I must say that they are children,” he said. “But did they make an adult decision or did they make a child’s decision?”

Another thing Peebles wants to know: the identity of the neighbor who rushed the two teenage victims to Centennial Hospital before they were taken to UMC. She says that the doctors told her that immediate action saved her son’s life.

Peebles also tells FOX5 that a 12-year-old neighbor who was also shot is recovering well.

Copyright 2023 KVVU. All rights reserved.