BUCKEYE, Ariz. — A West Valley woman is making a miraculous recovery after being shot eight times by her ex-boyfriend in the doorway of her Buckeye home.
“I just knew it wasn’t time," Aniya Brown said. "I just knew I was going to be able to live my life the same way again.”
At 20 years old, Brown lives her life like every college student. She studies business and plays basketball at Park University in Gilbert.
Her most recent relationship started normal, too.
“It was really a fairytale at first kind of," Brown said.
Brown said she met her former boyfriend on Instagram and they dated for about six months. She decided to break up with him in October because they wanted different things.
“He just didn’t say no for an answer," Brown said. "Kept coming to work, to school, to home, my house, everywhere I was at really.”
Brown said she never felt threatened by him.
Not until he showed up at her house the morning of Nov. 19.
“The tone in his voice started to change. The look in his eye was different," Brown said. "I said like, 'Okay, I don’t feel safe anymore. I’m going to go inside.' Next thing you know, my door automatically locks, so I’m reaching in my pocket for the keys, and as I’m in my pocket, I felt the gunshots.”
Jayden Kidd, 23, shot Brown eight times, according to authorities.
“Twice in my arm and six times in my back," Brown said.
Buckeye police said Kidd then shot himself. He died at the hospital.
Brown underwent several surgeries, and now, she's up and walking with the help of a cane.
“All the bullets only hit tissue. The most damage done was to my arm. It’s fractured in two different places," Brown said.
Brown said she's blessed to be alive, but she doesn't really think of herself as a survivor.
“You could think about that side of it, too, but as far as right now, I’m just focused on getting healthy again," Brown said.
She wants people to know domestic violence doesn't always look the same.
“It doesn’t come in forms of violence all the time. Sometimes it can be the obsessive love, it can be the overwhelming love that will lead to crazy endings too," Brown said.
Brown is expected to make a full recovery. Her goal is to get back on the basketball court for her junior and senior years of college.
The family created a GoFundMe page to help Brown get back on her feet. Click here to donate.
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