Teen graduates high school year after surviving mass shooting, learning to walk again

PIKE ROAD, Ala. (WSFA/Gray News) - A teenager in Alabama has beaten the odds.

Trinity Richards was one of at least 30 people who were shot at a Sweet 16 birthday party in April 2023.

Four people ended up being killed in the shooting with Richards nearly becoming a fifth victim after she was shot four times.

The Pike Road High School cheerleader’s family called her survival and recovery a miracle.

“Trinity made a miraculous recovery. She approaches everything, not just this situation, with enthusiasm and through commitment,” her mother Cheryl Sledge-Richards said last year. “Her attitude is one of gratefulness. She realizes that some people did not survive.”

The 17-year-old went from learning to walk again to walking across the stage at her high school graduation this year.

“I’m feeling very blessed,” she said. “It’s been a long journey, and I’m just feeling proud of myself.”

She was able to return to school after spending weeks in the hospital.

Trinity Richards said her senior year was hectic, but she was determined to finish.

“I was still wobbly,” she said. “I couldn’t walk up steps by myself. I had to take the elevator. I couldn’t just move around the classroom.”

The new high school grad has been accepted to multiple colleges and universities. She said she is looking forward to enjoying the college experience.

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