TACOMA, Wash. — A 13-year-old boy hit by a car in Tacoma on Halloween night is improving, according to family.
“It’s amazing it feels good to know that so many people are out here supporting him,” Marissa Fullerton, the boy’s aunt, said.
A prayer vigil bringing family, loved ones and the community together at Faith Lutheran Church in Tacoma was held for C.J. Billings, who was struck by a car while trick-or-treating with friends.
The boy from Puyallup suffered a fractured skull, broken eye sockets and a broken leg.
Fullerton says her nephew remains in the ICU at Harborview, but there’s progress.
“He’s off his breathing tube. He isn’t talking, but when his dad talks to him and asks ‘You understand me?’ he squeezes his fingers so that he knows he’s communicating,” Fullerton said.
A doorbell camera caught the collision that happened on Halloween at the intersection of South 96th and A streets in Tacoma.
The video shows C.J. just as he’s crossing the street when he’s hit by a speeding white car. The teen was thrown into the middle of the road.
The family said he was hurrying to catch up with friends after giving candy to a homeless man near the church.
“His breathing was very erratic, there was no response from him,” Shawn Nanney, an Army vet who was driving by and stopped to help the injured teen, said.
“I tried to position his hoodie underneath the laceration on his head to stop the bleeding as much as I could. I’ve been worried about him ever since that night,” Nanney said.
The family said prayers are being answered.
“This helps comfort my heart. This helps make me feel better, knowing that there’s hope,” Fullerton said.