Two men have been hit with murder charges following the shooting that took place while the Chiefs were holding their Super Bowl victory parade in Kansas City a week ago.
The shooting resulted in one woman losing her life while 22 others were injured.
Missouri residents Lyndell Mays and Dominic Miller have since been charged with second-degree felony murder, armed criminal action, and unlawful use of a weapon.
Mays’ mother, Teneal Burnside, started a GoFundMe page for her son, who has undergone multiple surgeries since the shooting, as she thought it wise to seek help for his medical bills online.
“I ask to all please help by donating to help him with his medical bills during this tragic time he is going through,” she wrote on the page, which has since been taken down for fear of retribution.
“He’s in ICU fighting for a recovery from several surgeries, from going to the Chiefs Super Bowl celebration parade with his older sister to getting shot multiple times a time that was ment [sic] to bring so much joy to many has bought [sic] so much pain and sadness to all that was attending.”
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Mays’ sister told DailyMail.com the 23-year-old is innocent and was protecting her.
“For them to make my brother out to be a monster, it really hurts me inside because he was only trying to protect us,” she said. “He doesn’t deserve to be thrown in it like that. My brother is tall and broad, he’s hefty. They were young kids and little guys, trying to prove a point.
“They had been looking at him, and they approached us, they walked closer they had been staring at him. We can see that they have guns in their pockets.
“We never walked up to them, they walked up to us. One boy I asked how old he was, and he said he was 15. I tried to say we’re here to celebrate, we’re not here to fight or start violence.”
Mays admitted being the first one to pull his weapon while speaking to police.
“Just pulled a gun out and started shooting,” he was quoted as saying. “I shouldn’t have done that. Just being stupid.”
“Mays stated the other individuals started shooting only after [he] shot first,” court documents note.
According to the authorities, Miller was the one who actually shot and killed Elizabeth Lopez-Galvan, a mother of two who worked as a local radio host and DJ.
Mays was discharged from hospital on Tuesday night and was taken into custody, according to TMZ.
“What was he supposed to do with those guys coming up to him with semi-automatic weapons?” his father told the Mail, “Our son is not that kind of guy, he’s a kindhearted guy who got caught up in a bad situation. He got scared because of those guns.”
The GoFundMe raised $100 before it was taken down.
