Dawn Warner didn’t care for the way Keyon Timmons smiled last week in Oakland County Circuit Court as he was being tried for shooting her 6-year-old granddaughter, Jordayna Barrett, of Oxford, in the face.
‘He has no remorse for what he did. In his mind, it’s a joke,? she said. ‘It makes you sick to even watch him. I can’t see anybody in their right mind doing what he did and smiling about it.?
But the 30-year-old Pontiac resident’s attitude quickly changed when it took the jury less than 30 minutes to find Timmons guilty of all eight charges against him, the main one being assault with intent to murder.
‘After the jury read the verdict, he wasn’t smiling anymore,? Warner said. ‘I’m very happy with the verdict . . . I feel he should be accountable for what he did.?
Whatever sentence Timmons? receives won’t be harsh enough in Warner’s opinion.
‘I think him being alive is too good for him,? she said.
On Sept. 9, 2009, Timmons shot Barrett, a first-grader at Leonard Elementary, inside a house located in the Lake Villa Manufactured Home Community on Lakeville Rd. in Oxford Township.
He shot the then 5-year-old in the face at close range with a .38-caliber handgun and fled the scene. The bullet entered through her left cheek and exited through the back of her neck. Fortunately, she survived.
Shortly after the shooting, Timmons was arrested in the Kmart parking lot on M-24 in Orion Township.
Timmons had a stormy romantic relationship with Barrett’s aunt, according to authorities, and reportedly threatened to kill her and her family prior to the shooting.
He was previously convicted of second-degree murder for the January 1995 shooting of a man outside a party store in Pontiac. Timmons was paroled in October 2007.
These days Barrett’s back at school, trying to live her life like any other little girl, but the shooting has definitely left some emotional scars.
‘She is doing okay, but I don’t think she’ll ever be normal again,? Warner said. ‘She’s scared of the sight of blood. She freaks out, it’s unbelievable. She’s scared of hospitals. If you mention hospitals or doctors, she cries, she stomps up and down. She was never like that before.?
‘It’s going to take some time,? Warner continued. ‘Hopefully, as she gets older, that will fade away.?
Despite these fears, Barrett is making progress.
‘As far as being the happy, joyful granddaughter she was, she’s getting that back and that’s what I’m happy about,? Warner said. ‘I’m just happy she’s alive.?
Physically, Barrett must wear a hearing aid because the shooting resulted in a 75 percent hearing loss in her left ear.
She also has some issues with how her facial muscles function on the left side of her face. ‘Hopefully, with her going through therapy, eventually that will go away,? Warner said.
Warner is grateful to the community for the way people reached out to her family with financial support, kind words, compassion and prayers.
‘It was just phenomenal,? she said. ‘Everybody was so much help when it came to this. I’m just grateful we have people out there that care and were willing to do what they could to help out.?