States Set Aside Millions Of Dollars For Crime Victims. But Some Gun Violence Survivors Donât Get the Funds They Desperately Need.
Ernest Edmonds
On the morning of December 13  2015   Ernest Edmonds   Jr.  was leaving a club in Newark when  he says  a man asked him for a cigarette. According to  Edmonds   the man tried to rob him  and as he fought back he heard a loud crack. Looking down  he saw red blooming through the stripes of his Houston Astros baseball jersey. He then blacked out. Hours later  police found  Edmonds  on the ground with a cut lip and a gunshot wound to the back. Halfway down the block  an officer discovered his hat  lighter  and watch in a pool of blood.
 Edmonds   35  awoke from a coma several weeks later to find he was paralyzed from the waist down. The bullet had pierced his back  only to be stopped by his spine.
âFigure you got 32  33 years of walking  and then youâre just not walking anymore â he said âItâs completely different.â Before the shooting  heâd lived in his cousinâs peach-colored house in East Orange  New Jersey. Thirteen steps led to the front porch. Then two more flights to reach his bedroom. Now reliant on a wheelchair   Edmonds  wondered  How am I going to do this?
At the physical rehabilitation center   Edmonds  heard there was financial assistance for crime victims like  him .  He  searched online and found a phone number for New Jerseyâs Victims of Crime Compensation Office. In  his  state  eligible victims may receive up to $2 500 in relocation expenses  and up to 104 weeks of lost earnings  among other benefits.
 Edmonds  says  he  would use the money to pay for  his  own place and make up for lost income. âI need it so much â  he  said. âIt could help me getting into a wheelchair-accessible apartment. It could help with a lot of backed-up bills. I canât do for my kids like I used to.â Since he was a teenager   Edmonds  worked for a family-operated construction business  where  he  said  he  made around $650 per week.  He  now has to make a$766.25 disability check last the whole month.
Demetrius Freeman for The Trace A shooting in 2015 left  Ernest Edmonds   Jr.  paralyzed and isolated. He misses attending family gatherings and picking his sons up from school. He's now staying in the living room of his mother's apartment  but hopes to move into a wheelchair-accessible home of his own soon.
After talking to New Jerseyâs compensation office   Edmonds  received a blank application and started to fill it out. The application asks crime victims to include supporting documentation  including copies of itemized receipts  bills  insurance information  and work pay stubs. âItâs like a list of 15 things that theyâre asking for  and I was only able to obtain  like  six of them  â Edmonds  recalled. Stuck   he  set the form aside.
One morning last November   Edmonds  shifted on a special mattress prescribed to help prevent bedsores.  His  makeshift bedroom had taken over the dining room of  his  cousinâs house  where swathes of fabric covered the windows.  He  used a claw-grabber to lift a bottle of Sprite from a nearby table. Cloying incense mixed with smoke from Edmondsâ cigarettes  which  he  chain-smoked; talking about what had changed since the shooting made  him  feel stressed.
âIt's like a prison in here.  He  can't get out   he  can't move around â said Nicole   Edmonds â younger sister. â He  might as well board up the windows and soak away.â
The shooting transformed  Edmonds â life.  He  lost the ability to bathe or dress on  his  own. While living in  his  cousinâs house   he  rarely left except for doctorâs appointments  and then  he  needed two or three people to bump  him  in  his  wheelchair down the front steps. To get something from  his  old room   his  cousin would have to FaceTime  him  from the third floor. âBeing dependent on so many people  I think thatâs the hardest thing â  he  said. âWithout my family  my sister  seeing my children  I really might have given up.â
Last spring  a former roommate saw  Edmonds  struggling and encouraged  him  to restart the victim compensation process. They filled out the application together and enlisted the help of a local lawyer. Still  there were roadblocks â  Edmonds  could not easily go down to the police department to get the incident report  so  he  had to wait months for the detective to bring it to  him . At one point someone stole his phone and he lost all his contacts  including the number for the lawyer.
December marked the two-year anniversary of  his  shooting. That month  he  moved to  his  motherâs apartment  where there are no steps to get in the front door.  He  can move around more easily there  but itâs still hard to take a shower on  his  own; the counters and cabinets are not built for someone in a wheelchair. On Christmas Day   he  stayed home and watched basketball while  his  family celebrated at  his  grandmotherâs house. Afterward   his  sister brought  him  a plate of food.
As of this articleâs publication   his  application had not yet been submitted.
On the morning of December 13  2015    [TGT] was leaving a club in Newark when   [TGT]  says  a man asked  [TGT]  for a cigarette. According to  Edmonds   the man tried to rob  [TGT]   and as he fought back he heard a loud crack. Looking down  he saw red blooming through the stripes of his Houston Astros baseball jersey. He then blacked out. Hours later  police found  Edmonds  on the ground with a cut lip and a gunshot wound to the back. Halfway down the block  an officer discovered his hat  lighter  and watch in a pool of blood.
 Edmonds   35  awoke from a coma several weeks later to find he was paralyzed from the waist down. The bullet had pierced his back  only to be stopped by his spine.
âFigure you got 32  33 years of walking  and then youâre just not walking anymore â he said âItâs completely different.â Before the shooting  heâd lived in his cousinâs peach-colored house in East Orange  New Jersey. Thirteen steps led to the front porch. Then two more flights to reach his bedroom. Now reliant on a wheelchair   Edmonds  wondered  How am I going to do this?
At the physical rehabilitation center   Edmonds  heard there was financial assistance for crime victims like  him .  He  searched online and found a phone number for New Jerseyâs Victims of Crime Compensation Office. In  his  state  eligible victims may receive up to $2 500 in relocation expenses  and up to 104 weeks of lost earnings  among other benefits.
 Edmonds  says  he  would use the money to pay for  his  own place and make up for lost income. âI need it so much â  he  said. âIt could help me getting into a wheelchair-accessible apartment. It could help with a lot of backed-up bills. I canât do for my kids like I used to.â Since he was a teenager   Edmonds  worked for a family-operated construction business  where  he  said  he  made around $650 per week.  He  now has to make a$766.25 disability check last the whole month.
Demetrius Freeman for The Trace A shooting in 2015 left   [TGT] paralyzed and isolated.  [TGT]  misses attending family gatherings and picking  [TGT]  sons up from school.  [TGT] 's now staying in the living room of  [TGT]  mother's apartment  but hopes to move into a wheelchair-accessible home of  [TGT]  own soon.
After talking to New Jerseyâs compensation office   Edmonds  received a blank application and started to fill it out. The application asks crime victims to include supporting documentation  including copies of itemized receipts  bills  insurance information  and work pay stubs. âItâs like a list of 15 things that theyâre asking for  and I was only able to obtain  like  six of them  â Edmonds  recalled. Stuck   he  set the form aside.
One morning last November   Edmonds  shifted on a special mattress prescribed to help prevent bedsores.  His  makeshift bedroom had taken over the dining room of  his  cousinâs house  where swathes of fabric covered the windows.  He  used a claw-grabber to lift a bottle of Sprite from a nearby table. Cloying incense mixed with smoke from Edmondsâ cigarettes  which  he  chain-smoked; talking about what had changed since the shooting made  him  feel stressed.
âIt's like a prison in here.  He  can't get out   he  can't move around â said Nicole   Edmonds â younger sister. â He  might as well board up the windows and soak away.â
The shooting transformed  Edmonds â life.  He  lost the ability to bathe or dress on  his  own. While living in  his  cousinâs house   he  rarely left except for doctorâs appointments  and then  he  needed two or three people to bump  him  in  his  wheelchair down the front steps. To get something from  his  old room   his  cousin would have to FaceTime  him  from the third floor. âBeing dependent on so many people  I think thatâs the hardest thing â  he  said. âWithout my family  my sister  seeing my children  I really might have given up.â
Last spring  a former roommate saw  Edmonds  struggling and encouraged  him  to restart the victim compensation process. They filled out the application together and enlisted the help of a local lawyer. Still  there were roadblocks â  Edmonds  could not easily go down to the police department to get the incident report  so  he  had to wait months for the detective to bring it to  him . At one point someone stole his phone and he lost all his contacts  including the number for the lawyer.
December marked the two-year anniversary of  his  shooting. That month  he  moved to  his  motherâs apartment  where there are no steps to get in the front door.  He  can move around more easily there  but itâs still hard to take a shower on  his  own; the counters and cabinets are not built for someone in a wheelchair. On Christmas Day   he  stayed home and watched basketball while  his  family celebrated at  his  grandmotherâs house. Afterward   his  sister brought  him  a plate of food.
As of this articleâs publication   his  application had not yet been submitted.