Brentwood teen shooting victim aims for full recovery

Five months and four different hospital stays after he was shot in the face while playing basketball in a Brentwood park, Wilson Batista Jr. is finally home and determined to make a full recovery.

"Next summer," Wilson, 13, said Sunday from his wheelchair, "I'll be able to walk."

Next summer is a long way from November. For now, he attends physical therapy three times a week, building strength back in his arms and legs. Just a month ago, Wilson said, his knees buckled when he tried to stand. Now he can walk short distances on his own, but he uses the wheelchair most of the time.

He does not recall being shot June 15 in Timberline Park. When he woke up at Southside Hospital in Bay Shore, frightened by the machines connected to his body, Wilson said he was incredulous when told why he was there.

"At first when they told me I got shot, I didn't believe it," he said. "I couldn't believe it."

The shooting, in which Alexander A. Aguilar, 18, of Deer Park, stands charged with first-degree assault, sparked an outcry over gang violence in Brentwood and Central Islip. Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy added patrols in and around Timberline Park and the Islip Town Board approved installation of surveillance cameras.

On Friday, Christopher Hamilton, 15, was killed just blocks from the park - news that deeply troubled Wilson's mother, Ramona.

"It never ends," she said. "It's not safe anywhere. It's not safe in the parks, it's not safe at home. There's too much violence in this town."

Wilson, who returned home Nov. 13, lost his right eye in the June shooting; his vision from his left eye is too blurry for reading, he said. He speaks in short, halted bursts, though his sense of humor remains strong. While shaking hands Sunday, he pretended he'd been hurt by the grip, only to begin laughing.

He said he hopes to return to school once he can be fitted with glasses. He said he is often bored at home, where he watches cartoons and Knicks games on television until his friends visit after classes.

"It's a lot of effort," said his mother. "He is working very hard, he's very independent."

To care for her son, Ramona Batista quit her job at a perfume company. His father, Wilson Sr., returned to work recently as a custodian at Southside Hospital.

Before the teen's return home, family friends helped build a ramp in front of the Batistas' home - a ramp Wilson Jr. pledged he would help his father tear down next summer.