After undergoing several surgeries, including amputation of part of his leg, Dakotah Earley has finally returned home four months after he was shot at point-blank range during a robbery in Lincoln Park.
“It’s been a long day and night, hell, it’s been a journey,” Earley’s mom Joy Dobbs tweeted. “God has made sure we can be here to tell the story.”
Earley, 24, was shot multiple times on the street May 6 after a robber demanded his cellphone and passcode, police said. Tyshon Brownlee, 19, has been charged with attempted murder and armed robbery in the attack.
It’s been a long day and night, hell it’s been a journey and God has made sure we can be here to tell the story. #DakotahEarley is home. 🙏
— Joy JellyBean Dobbs (@JellyBe88144604) September 10, 2022
As Earley tried to defend himself, a handgun went off, then Brownlee stood over him and shot him twice, police said. He was shot in the side and the neck, a GoFundMe page created by Dobbs says.
Brownlee couldn’t be reached for comment.
Earley’s jaw was wired shut as doctors treated his wounds, and he was unable to speak for two months. He left the ICU at Illinois Masonic Medical Center in early June and was taken off dialysis.
He spent much of the summer in acute rehab where he learned to use a prosthetic leg, according to his mother.
Earley was studying to be a chef when he was attacked. “He’s doing great, but there’s still hurdles to jump,” Dobbs said in June.
