CT mother shot in attempted murder-suicide is recovering. Her will to survive called ‘remarkable’

A Connecticut mother who was shot multiple times in an attempted murder-suicide last week has woken up and is undergoing treatment at Yale New Haven Hospital, her family said Wednesday.

Deanna Brightman, 30, of New London, remains in the ICU and has had two surgeries for the life-threatening injuries she suffered when her boyfriend, 31-year-old Jamal Brooks, allegedly shot at her multiple times at her in their apartment on Hawthorne Drive on Saturday.

Investigators allege that Brooks opened fire on Brightman during a domestic violence incident while their children were home and then turned the gun on himself, dying of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the New London Police Department.

One dead, one injured in CT attempted murder-suicide that occurred while children were home

Results of an autopsy for Brooks were still pending, according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

Deanna Brightman, the mother of a 5-year-old boy and caretaker for Brooks’ 9-year-old son, had been in an abusive relationship with Brooks for several years, her family said.

Now, she is hoping to raise awareness about domestic violence resources and to restart her own life as she recovers from the catastrophic injuries she sustained.

“Her exact words were ‘I’m relieved, I’m free, I feel safe,’ ” said Andrea Brightman, Deanna’s sister.

Andrea Brightman launched a GoFundMe fundraiser to help Deanna get back on her feet.

“Deanna needs the community to please gather together and help her,” she wrote.

“My sister has been trying to leave this abuser for years,” she said in the GoFundMe. “She felt stuck, she felt hopeless, she felt like there was no way out. Now my sister is fighting for her life!”

Andrea Brightman said she sat down with her sister for a one-on-one conversation about her recovery on Tuesday. Deanna’s biggest concern, according to Andrea, is being able to support herself as she restarts her life.

“Her main thing was finances. That is the one thing that she is so adamantly stressing about and she would start crying,” Andrea Brightman said. It has been years since her sister had control of her own finances, her sister alleged.

“In this relationship, nothing was her own. She never had her own anything. The car was never her own, the house was never her own,” Andrea said. She is hoping that when her sister is discharged from the hospital she can safely move into a different apartment than the one where she was shot.

“The most important thing is helping her get into a new apartment so she doesn’t have to go back to a trauma-filled apartment and getting into a new car,” she said. “The kids can’t go back (there) either, they have trauma of their own.”

Deanna, her sister said, has always been a fiercely independent person, a caregiver and the “peacemaker” in their family. Asking for or accepting help, she said, is not in her nature.

“She’s been trying to leave (Brooks) for a long time,” Andrea alleged. “But, first of all, she doesn’t like asking anybody for help. She’s always been so strong, so independent. She’s the one that everything goes to for everything, so for her to have to lean on somebody else for help was hard. She didn’t know which resources to reach out to.”

As of Wednesday, Andrea said Deanna is still in a great deal of pain. She is recovering from two surgeries and doctors believe she has between three and five gunshot wounds, according to Andrea.

Deanna Brightman and Brooks’ 5-year-old son and Brooks’ 9-year-old son — who calls Deanna ‘mom’ and considers her his mother — have been placed into the custody of their paternal grandmother through the Department of Children and Families, Andrea Brightman said.

Deanna is missing the boys terribly, Brightman said, and missing the students she works with.

On the day she was shot, Andrea Brightman said her sister told her she called 911 herself while laying on the floor bleeding. Her plea to dispatchers was to have someone come protect the boys, who witnessed the shooting.

“I don’t think she thought she was going to make it in that moment, but all she cared about was her kids,” Andrea Brightman said, her voice cracking with emotion.

Shortly after Deanna made that 911 call, Andrea’s phone rang. A first responder called her and told her her sister had been shot.

“I literally … it was the worst thing of my life,” Andrea Brightman said. “I’m screaming bloody murder. I can’t even get words out of my mouth. She is my best friend in the world.”

She said what happened to her sister is especially hard for her to wrap her head around, since her sister is such a good-natured person.

Deanna put herself through school at Southern Connecticut State University, her sister said, where she studied early childhood education. And as a preschool teacher at the Children’s Learning Center at Mitchell College, she’s developed a close bond with her students.

“Her career, her kids are her life,” Andrea said.

Being in the hospital, Andrea said, is especially hard on Deanna because of those bonds.

“She’s taking it hard because she’s a teacher and she really loves the kids so on top of not seeing her own kids right now she’s really missing those kids,” Andrea said.

The students from her classroom made cards to brighten up her hospital room, Andrea said.

Deanna was shot just after 9:30 a.m. Saturday. She was originally taken to Lawrence + Memorial Hospital in New London, then transferred to Yale New Haven Hospital in an ambulance due to weather conditions that prevented her from being airlifted, police said.

She woke up in the hospital Tuesday, her family said.

Police initially described Deanna’s wounds as life-threatening. New London Chief Brian Wright said “her will and desire to survive is nothing short of remarkable.”

Wright said police are continuing to monitor Deanna’s condition, which he described as now stable, but still critical.

“But that’s a great improvement from what we initially thought,” he said.

In a statement released after the shooting, Wright said, “Domestic violence is a serious issue that we all need to address. Today’s incident is another tragic reminder of the perils of domestic violence. It’s crucial that we come together as a community to raise awareness, provide support, and work towards preventing such incidents in the future.”

Each year in Connecticut, an average of 14 people are killed by an intimate partner.

In 2022, 16 people were killed by their partners in Connecticut, and at least half of those homicides were witnessed by children at an average age of 6, according to the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

“If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please don’t hesitate to reach out for help,” Wright said.  There are several resources available, such as hotlines, shelters, and counseling services, that can provide support and guidance. Remember, you are not alone, and there are people who care and want to help.

In addition to the GoFundMe, donations are being accepted for the family at Safe Futures at 16 Jay St. in New London.

Andrea said that both her sister and the young boys are going to need extensive therapy and trauma support. She hopes people remember that surviving domestic violence is something their family will live with from here on out.

To donate to the GoFundMe, visit gofundme.com/f/help-deanna-start-fresh-stopdomesticviolence.

For 24/7 free, confidential support through CCDAV, visit www.ctcadv.org  or www.ctsafeconnect.com or call or text (888)-774-2900. Help is available via text, chat, email, phone or web.