Chicago mother says her ex-boyfriend shot her 3 times in front of her kids

A Chicago mother of two is speaking out after she says she was shot multiple times, and then her apartment was set on fire.

CHICAGO - A Chicago mother of two is speaking out after she says she was shot multiple times, and then her apartment was set on fire.

She said this was the result of her trying to escape an abusive and toxic relationship.

Markeytia Richmond spent nine days in the hospital after being shot three times inside her apartment on Chicago's South Side last week.

Police said the incident happened after a verbal altercation between Richmond and her partner.

Richmond said she had just broken up with her boyfriend before he turned a gun on her in front of her 11-year-old and 4-year-old children.

She says she was shot in the neck, and the bullet pierced a main artery — which placed her in critical condition at the time.

Two days after, her apartment caught on fire.

Neighbors said surveillance footage showed a man breaking into the apartment right before the blaze.

"We found the crow bar, the hammer was outside of the front door, and the crow bar was in the back," one neighbor said.

"I didn't expect for him to shoot me, you know," said Richmond.

The 28-year-old showed FOX 32 an order of protection she filed against the boyfriend in March 2022.

She will now have to undergo physical and occupational therapy after having a stroke while in the hospital.

Chicago police say no suspect is currently in custody.

Richmond says her biggest fear is that the offender is still at large, and that he may return.