9-Year-Old Girl Shot While Fleeing Gunfire Is Improving

A 9-year-old girl who lost her spleen, a kidney and part of her pancreas after she was hit by a gang bullet is recovering but is “not completely out of the woods yet,” a hospital spokeswoman said Thursday.

Yvette Zavalza heard gunfire April 1 and was running into her home in the 5200 block of East Baltimore Street when she was hit by a stray bullet.

She was taken to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center in critical condition and underwent surgery. Later, she was transferred to Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Hospital in Hollywood, spokeswoman Pam Dean said.

“She is continuing to gradually improve,” Dean said. “She’s in very stable condition, but she’s not completely out of the woods yet.”

Dean said the girl’s loss of her spleen and a kidney are not life-threatening, but the injury to her pancreas is more problematic.

Juan Carlos Granados, 19, has been charged in the shooting. He faces two counts of attempted murder, one count of assault with a deadly weapon with great bodily injury and one count of possession of a destructive device. Two sticks of dynamite were found at his residence, authorities said.