Girl paralyzed in Brooklyn shooting comes face to face with gunman in court

BROOKLYN (WABC) -- A shooting victim left paralyzed in the incident came face to face with the gunman in court Monday.

Kane Cooper, 17, accepted a plea deal in the shooting that wounded Tayloni Mazyck. She was too distraught to read her impact statement herself, so her brother, 17-year-old Daiquan, read it on her behalf.

Taylonni Mazyck was prepared to read her remarks, but when she came within feet of the man who shot her, she started sobbing uncontrollably.

"I'm not as active as I used to be," the statement read. "I can't even run track, play double dutch or even swim. Need to walk to do all of those things. Thanks a lot for nothing."

Daiquan struggled through the words his little sister wrote about the man who robbed her of her physical freedom.

"As a child looking at this guy, it's kind of like he's a monster-type, with everything," mom Priscilla Samuel said. "So now she is up front and personal with him, so he couldn't bring herself to say her words."

As part of the plea deal, Cooper pleaded guilty to first-degree assault in the 2013 shooting, which left the then-11-year-old Tayloni paralyzed when she was struck by a stray bullet.

"We are still trying to get used to her being in a chair," Samuel said." Her school situation, we are still trying to get her into a school that accommodates her needs. Traveling is hard for us."

Mazyck's mom, however, wasn't afraid.

"I wasn't showing like he was sorry for anything, and I kind of felt like I want to scratch his eyes out," she said. "But I won't do it."

Cooper was originally charged with first-degree attempted murder, but he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge. He will spend 17 years in jail. He had a chance to address the family, and he said nothing when he asked by the judge.