PORTLAND, Ore. — A 13-year-old boy who was critically injured after being struck in the head with a tire iron began showing signs of improvement on Thursday, according to a family spokesperson, although he remains hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit.
Jamari Woodard suffered life-threatening injuries Saturday evening when the tire iron became lodged in his skull. Police said he had been seated in a car that was driving through Southeast Portland when someone threw the tire iron at it.
Doctors at Kaiser Permanente Sunnyside removed the tire iron and then transferred him to Doernbecher Children's Hospital, where he has been recovering since Saturday night. He remained unconscious and on a ventilator through Wednesday.
The Woodard family hopes to get some answers and justice for Jamari. No arrests have been made, and Portland police said earlier this week that they were not releasing suspect information because doing so could compromise the investigation.
"I’m not going to speculate on the person who has done this," family spokesperson Michelle Bart said. "We don't know if it was intentional. We don’t know if it was accidental. What we do know is that a 13-year-old innocent boy is in pediatric ICU and we need him to be OK."
The family announced Thursday morning that Jamari is breathing on his own and has had his breathing tube removed, but he has been unable to keep food down and is still on a feeding tube. He isn't speaking yet, but he responded with motion to a question from doctors and cried when told his mother had entered the room.
The family had been hoping to see those improvements; Bart previously said on Wednesday that Jamari had not yet woken up yet and the family hoped to see that change in the following 24 to 48 hours.
Jamari recently graduated from eighth grade and according to family, plans to attend Franklin High School in the fall. He was looking forward to spending his summer playing basketball.
"Jamari has made it through the night but every hour is crucial as the swelling hopefully goes down and he can heal," said Tara Jewell, a friend of Jamari's mom, said earlier this week. "His family needs support to be with him at this time. It's going to be a long road to recovery for Jamari."
Saturday evening incident
Officers responded to a call for assistance in a neighborhood near Southeast Foster Road and 122nd Avenue just after 7 p.m. on Saturday, June 24, according to a news release from PPB.
Deputies from the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office were at a local hospital with the teen, who had been injured and taken to the hospital in a private vehicle after the incident. The sheriff's office requested that Portland police respond to the crime scene, according to PPB.
CCSO advised Portland police that their initial investigation found that the teen had been seriously injured when someone threw a tire iron into the moving car where the teen was sitting.
He was taken to the hospital to be treated for his injuries, which were potentially life-threatening. According to Bart, he was initially rushed to the Kaiser Permanente Sunnyside location where medical professionals removed the tire iron from his skull.
"He was rushed first to Kaiser Sunnyside — no pediatrics there. They performed a procedure to take the tire iron out of his skull, and then flew him immediately to Doernbecher," Bart said.
Portland police spoke to witnesses at the scene who were able to confirm those details. Detectives from PPB's Major Crimes Unit responded to both the crime scene and the hospital and are still investigating the incident.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to email Detective Brett Hawkinson at brett.hawkinson@police.porlandoregon.gov, or email crimetips@police.portlandoregon.gov and reference case number 23-166081.
"If you saw something on Saturday, if you heard something, if someone’s bragging about something, if you have any knowledge of anything, please call Portland Police," Bart said.
Bart said the family is fixated on supporting Jamari in his road to recovery and holding the suspect accountable.
"We’re going to give them the time that they need to do their investigation and ultimately our concern now is that Jamari pulls through," Bart said.
A GoFundMe has been started to help cover medical expenses for the teen. It raised more than $5,500 in the first 24 hours and had raised just over $27,000 as of Thursday morning, according to Bart.