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Army vet, paralyzed in armed robbery, forgives attacker

John Burger - published on 12/31/16

Chris Sanna thinks about how shooter's family will react seeing him behind bars at Christmas

Chris Sanna lies in bed paralyzed. he and his girlfriend have to deal with the traumatic memories of being robbed at gunpoint and shot as they tried to run. Their assailant is serving a 35-year sentence in federal prison.

Sanna, an Army veteran, has every right to be angry. But this Christmas, he is forgiving the shooter, Kilwa Jones. As the Stream noted, Sanna hasn’t let the injury dampen his Christmas spirit:

He empathizes with his shooter’s family about seeing Jones behind bars this Christmas. “They’re going to have to visit him in jail, and he probably wishes that night never happened just like I do.”

The case dates back to September 2015, when Sanna and his girlfriend were walking back to his car in St. Louis after a Cardinal’s game. A black sedan pulled up beside them, and the driver got out and demanded his girlfriend’s purse.

“After she gave him her purse, he pulled a gun,” said Candis Sanna, Sanna’s mother. “That’s when they turned to run, and he shot at them twice.”

The bullets pierced his spine, liver and lungs, leaving him paralyzed.

A state trial is pending, and Sanna just wants to get it over with and spend the Christmas season with his family.

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