It has been six months and 14 days since 's life changed.
The Los Gatos High School sophomore was on Jan. 8 after crossing the street. She has been in a coma ever since.
Yet to the county sheriff, the community's support of the spirited 16-year-old might result in a key piece of evidence to help find and convict a suspected thief.
It all started when a local business owner, Vikki Graham, read about Shea's accident and lost it. She cried for days.
Graham had met Michelle Bowen, Shea’s step-mother, years before through a friend. This year, she read about Shea on Facebook.
“When my mother was in a coma, I was devastated,” Graham said. “And neighbors that I didn’t even know came out and really helped me. That’s what I remember.”
Graham contacted the Shaws in May and was invited to go to the hospital to meet Shea.
“We sat down with them (Shea's parents),” she says. “I cried, and they cried. She won my heart, without a doubt, from that point on.”
The next day, Graham put out a donation collection box in her store, Not Too Shabby, on Bascom Avenue in San Jose.
Graham put the box on her counter, next to the register. The suggested donation is $1, and she matches it. One hundred percent of the donations go to Shea and her family to help with medical costs.
Graham and her 18-year-old son, , donate a monthly check to the family, but on July 15, this delivery almost didn't happen.
At about 10 a.m., a man walked into the store and straight to the donation box, Graham said. He struggled with it, but when he couldn't get it to budge, he went around the counter. He stole everything that was in the cash register and walked out before anyone noticed.
"Thank goodness, the donation box was bolted to the counter," she says.
When the Santa Clara County Sheriff's deputies showed up to file the report, they dusted for fingerprints. The only usable ones were all over Shea's donation box. They took the prints along with the store's surveillance video, which caught the thief on tape.
"Hopefully, they’ll catch the guy," Graham says.
As for the Shaws, they remain optimistic the person who hit their daughter will also be found.
San Jose police have no leads, says Robbie Shaw, Shea's father, but he still hopes someone will come forward.
Shea is still in a coma but at home with her family.
"She’s still pretty much the same," Shaw says. "Baby steps. Pretty much she follows a few more commands a little better."
The family recently received workout equipment for the 16-year-old's physical therapy, but at this point, the insurance covers only the cost of food and medicine.
"We are paying out of pocket for her rehabilitation," Shaw says.
Donations can be made at any Wells Fargo Bank to the , via PayPal through Angels for Shea or in person at Not Too Shabby, 481 S. Bascom Ave., San Jose. Donations will specifically assist Shea's family with her medical bills.
Anyone with information about the hit-and-run is asked to contact the San Jose Police Department at 408-409-5339.
