MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Memphis woman is accused of shooting a 5-year-old girl and endangering four other children during an argument with another woman in East Memphis.
Lenora Garner and her sister Shante Dennard shared their side of the story with WREG to provide background and insight to what led her to fire her gun.
Memphis Police said Garner got in an argument with another woman Oct. 2 at a barber shop on Park Avenue near Getwell, ending with Garner firing six shots at the woman’s car filled with children.
One of the bullets struck a 5-year-old girl in the shoulder. She is expected to recover. Four other children in the car were not hurt.
“I wasn’t thinking at the time. I blacked out,” Garner said.
Garner is charged with attempted first-degree murder, several counts of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and unlawful possession of a weapon. Officers charged Dennard, also there at the time, with aggravated riot.
Garner claimed she feared for her life.
She shared surveillance video she said showed the other woman boxed her car in, threw alcohol on her and flashed a gun. The video showed the car driving away, as she fired the shots.
“I had children in the car as well. They’re not talking about that,” Garner said.
Garner said she had three children in the car with her at the time and said she’s not sure who she was shooting at.
“I don’t have the slightest damn idea to be honest,” Garner said.
Garner also said she is thankful things did not get much worse. At the same time, she did not say she was responsible for shooting the 5-year-old girl.
“Who is to say if my bullet hit her?” Garner asked. “If my bullet hit that baby I am sorry, I am truly sorry. I would never want to hurt a child because I have three of my own. I feel bad. I really do,” Garner said.
Garner said since the shooting, her family has been threatened and harassed, and their home has become the target of other shootings. She said she understands criminal punishment.
But Garner believes others should be held accountable too.
“I will accept responsibility if my bullet hit that child,” Garner said. “I feel like all of us should. All of us got something to do with it.”