The family of a 13-year-old boy shot in the head on a Queens street on his way to school is praying for a miracle — even though doctors have told them he is unlikely to ever recover.
Sanjay Samuel was in a coma on life support as his heart continued to beat Tuesday, a day after he was shot outside a Dunkin’ Donuts in Cambria Heights, his devastated father told the Daily News in an exclusive interview.
“I would like him to get a second chance in life,” Theophilus Samuel said of his son. “Everybody wishes that he could come back. Right now it’s left to God.”
The gunman’s bullet remains lodged in Sanjay’s brain, which has swelled from the gruesome wound.
“We asked them if they could do the surgery to remove the bullet,” Samuel said. “They said, ‘No, that could make it worse.’”
Sanjay’s condition is dire and doctors at Cohen Children’s Medical Center are giving the family a grim prognosis. Samuel by coincidence works in the linen department in a psychiatric wing at the hospital where his son is now clinging to life.
“What they’re saying is, with the kind of condition he’s in, he’s not going to walk out of there,” said Samuel. “He’s not going to make it. That’s what they think.”
Doctors were planning additional tests Tuesday to determine what, if any, activity is occurring inside Sanjay’s brain, though they suspect he is brain dead, Samuel said.
“They did the CT scan and they see the damage,” he said. “When they calculate the damage they say, ‘A person with this damage has no chance.’”
“Yesterday they’re saying that,” he added. “Today it may be a different story. Maybe there’s still a chance.”
The faithful father has told doctors to do everything possible to keep his son alive.
“His heart’s still pumping,” Samuel said. “They ask us, ‘If something happens, do you want us to resuscitate? We say, ‘Yes.’”
“Our generation, you know, we believe in miracles,” he added. “God is everlasting.”
No arrests have been made in the shooting, although a police source said Tuesday that NYPD cops have identified a suspect and are hunting for him.
“He’s a coward,” Samuel said of the shooter. “How can you live with this? At the moment, you’re probably hyped. But as time goes by, you have to think about this. ‘I took another persons life.’”
As the manhunt continues for the killer, the victim’s family has launched a GoFundMe to raise money for Sanjay’s medical expenses.
“He loves playing basketball, going fishing and dancing,” his mother, Vilene Griffith, wrote on the site. “His passion for music, especially playing the drums, fills our home with energy.”
Sanjay has a 15-year-old brother and an adult sister who are both struggling to deal with the tragedy.
Samuel said Sanjay was hoping to be a firefighter. He graduated from Intermediate School 59 earlier this year and had just started ninth grade at a new school, Martin Van Buren High School, where he planned to tryout for the basketball team.
“He used to play basketball [at IS 59],” Samuel said. “He said, ‘When I go to high school I want to play basketball again.’”
Sanjay enjoyed reggae and hip hop and his father recently bought him a turntable so he could mix tunes in the basement of the family’s Laurelton home.
Although city leaders have touted a historic drop in shootings, Mayor Adams said gun access remains a threat to New York City and its young residents.
“There is nothing more devastating than yet another child becoming a victim of senseless gun violence,” Adams said in a social media post. “Our hearts ache with the family and friends of this 13-year-old who is fighting for his life because of this epidemic.”
Surveillance video shows the victim with about four friends in the strip mall parking lot near Springfield and Linden Blvds when a young gunman rolls up on a scooter, argues with Sanjay, pulls out a gun and shoots him, according to a worker at a local business who viewed the video.
A single shot was fired. Samuel said his son was shot in the back of the head.
“I wouldn’t wish this on anyone, not even my worst enemy,” Samuel said. “It’s not easy to deal with. There’s a difference, if there was an accident or if he was sick in the hospital. But our kid left to go to school and then this happened. We’re heartbroken.”
The shooting occurred on the same street that was renamed to honor Kevin Miller Jr. a 13-year-old boy killed by stray bullet fired by a suspected gang member at the same corner in 2009.
On Monday, Kevin’s mother, Donna Hood-Greaves, told the Daily News she “lost it” when she learned another boy, the same age as her son, had been shot at the same location.
“When I saw it on the news, I took a moment to bow my head and pray for that family,” Hood-Greaves said of Sanjay’s family. “It never gets easier. It’s something you never get over.”
Samuel appreciated Hood-Greaves’ support from afar.
“Even though my son is not her son, she’s gonna feel it — because she knows how it is,” he said. ”She knows how we feel.”
“It’s something you’re going to feel forever,” he added. “You’re not going to stop crying. You get times when you’re going to be OK. And there will be times when you think about certain things you’re doing — and you know Sanjay’s not there.”
Originally Published: September 23, 2025 at 3:03 PM EDT
