Lovely Toney, 3, making 'full recovery' after Ridge apartment shooting, dad says

A 3-year-old Ridge girl who was shot in the abdomen last week allegedly by a homicide suspect’s stray bullet was awake and breathing on her own Monday, the child's father said.

Lovely Toney underwent surgery Friday at Cohen Children’s Medical Center in Queens to close a gunshot wound to her midsection, said James Toney, her father. 

Lovely had been sedated and hooked up to a machine to assist her breathing after a stray bullet struck her last week as she was getting ready for bed, according to her father. She since has returned to breathing on her own and is awake, he said.

“She’s making a full recovery,” Toney said.

Officials at Northwell Health, which manages Cohen Children’s Medical Center, said they could not comment.

Lovely was shot about 8:30 p.m. Aug. 22 after a homicide suspect, Gary Jones, 38, fired at detectives in the apartment next door, police said. The detectives were interviewing a resident of the apartment when Jones emerged and opened fire, police said. The police did not return fire, they said.

James Toney said he and Lovely’s mother had just given her a bath when they heard multiple gunshots. A single bullet pierced a shared wall and struck Lovely, who was sitting on a couch.

The bullet went through her hand before passing through her abdomen and exiting her back, Toney said. Neither detective was struck by gunfire, nor was anyone else in Toney's home.

Authorities evacuated residents from the apartment building and called for backup, and a standoff ensued with Jones. The Suffolk police hostage negotiation team tried to contact him but was unsuccessful. Emergency Services used a robot equipped with a camera to enter the apartment. They determined that Jones had shot himself in the head and was dead, police said.

The family had handed Lovely off to waiting police officers, who drove her to Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead, where she was later airlifted to Cohen.

Lovely underwent emergency surgery after doctors said the bullet struck part of her liver, Toney said, adding that doctors had been looking for additional bullet fragments before closing her wounds Friday.

Toney said he didn’t know Jones or realize he was in the neighboring apartment. His and the neighbor's children would often play together, Toney said.

Jones was a suspect in the killing of his girlfriend, Shayna Staton, 39, who was found dead June 19 in her Central Islip home from a gunshot wound, according to police.

A 9-mm handgun was recovered near Jones’ body, the same caliber gun used in Staton’s death, officials said.

Police did not have any updates on the status of the investigation into Staton’s killing or why Jones was in the Ridge apartment last week.

Staton's family could not immediately be reached for comment.

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.