“It hit her pretty much square in the middle of her leg and went through and broke the bone. She had to have a plate and screws to help pin the bone in place,” Brad Ellis, Ava’s dad told ABC6.
The City Council of Columbus Ohio approved a $780,000 pending settlement that we reported about last week in a case where a cop was trying to kill the family dog as it retreated into its home, but the bullet wound up going through, 4-year-old Ava Ellis’ leg, shattering her bone, ricocheting and then lodged in the cabinet in the families’ kitchen.
Ava, who is 6-years-old now, has been through several surgeries since being shot and has had to miss most of her first grade year.
Ava Ellis Stil Has Nightmares After Being Shot By Columbus Cop Jonathan Thomas Who Was Trying To Kill Her Dog. But Her Parents Hope She’s Grows Out Of It.
Michael Wright, attorney for Ava Ellis family, said the $780,000 settlement approved by the city holds police accountable for their “error in judgment.”
The Ellis’ still think officer Thomas should be held accountable, but he is appealing the disciplinary action taken against him by his department and is still on the police force, saying he shot at the dog in self-defense.
But officer Thomas is the only one who remembers it that way.
Several witnesses there that say the 40-pound family said the dog had came out to bark, but was retreating into the house when he shot, missing it and hitting Ava instead.
No criminal charges were filed against him, even though instead of rendering aid and making sure Ava was OK, officer Jonathan Thomas then walked down the driveway, got in his patrol car and left the scene without administering aid or making sure an ambulance was on the way.
On June 19 2015, officer Jonathan Thomas was responding to a separate call in the same neighborhood when Ava’s mother, Andrea Ellis, accidentally cut herself.
Andrea’s sister Kelly called 911 screaming, “she’s bleeding all over the place! I need a paramedic!”
Kelly then noticed officer Thomas a few houses down and cried to him for help.
When Thomas approached their home, one of their family dogs allegedly ran towards him.
Thomas shot at the dog, but the bullet missed it and struck 4-year-old Ava in the leg instead, shattering the bone.
A neighbor then called 911 again.
“My neighbor across the street had an officer at her door and she’s screaming that he shot a child,” the neighbor told the police dispatcher.
“I felt it is his job to protect, if it was an accident he should still be there to check on my child, to make sure she was okay, to make sure somebody was on the way,” Andrea Ellis said.
Thomas never gave a reason why he left the scene.
Ava reportedly now drinks a lot of chocolate milk to make her bones strong.
