Pregnant woman injured in Ferguson thankful she's alive

O'FALLON, Mo. — Life changed for a pregnant woman the day police fired a bean bag round that hit her left eye. Dornella Conner, 24, said she wasn't protesting, but got caught in the crossfire.

"I am hurt because I will never see in my left eye again. But I am thankful that I am here to see the world and you and my kids," she said recovering at her home in O'Fallon, a St. Louis suburb.

A spokesperson for the St. Louis County Police Department said the initial call detailed reports of looting and rioting following the St. Louis County grand jury's decision not to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown on Aug. 9. Police said 16 people were arrested.

Conner said she and her boyfriend stopped at the gas station to fill up.

"It wasn't no one on the lot going haywire," Conner said. "I was in the car the whole time. I never even left out the car."

The 24-year-old, who was sitting in the passenger side of the vehicle, said she has felt a medley of emotions.

"All I felt was a blast in my face. I have been getting nightmares about it," she said. "I am just trying to stay strong."

Her father said "police could've used" other tactics to slow the driver of the vehicle.

"There are other strategies I feel could have been done," Donnell Conner said.

The incident happened in a BP gas station parking lot. Police say Conner's boyfriend, De'Angelas F. Lee, drove directly at officers despite having other paths of travel to proceed. He now faces second-degree assault charges.

Officers stated they had to move out of the way to avoid being struck by the vehicle.

Conner is now home recovering. She has a follow-up appointment with her doctor on Monday. She is unable to receive a cornea transplant because the injury was too severe.

"I'm just thankful that I am alive because of my kids," Conner said. "I am just thankful because I thought I was dead that night."