Plant City, Florida – In 2010, a quiet stretch near U.S. Highway 92 and Noel Drive in Plant City, Florida, became the site of a life-altering tragedy. Tamesha Miles, then four months pregnant, was sitting in a parked car when she was shot five times. Doctors warned she might never walk again—and that her unborn child might not survive.
Both predictions proved wrong.
More than a decade later, Miles is alive, mobile, and known to many as Fye Redd, a rapper and community advocate using music as a form of survival, testimony, and outreach. Her story matters not only because of what she endured, but because of what she has built in the aftermath—at a time when communities across the United States continue to grapple with the ripple effects of gun violence.
Miles’ daughter, Miraculez-Jurni, was born alive but with lifelong medical challenges. She lives with cerebral palsy and epilepsy, conditions Miles believes are connected to the trauma of the shooting.
“There are days I just break down,” Miles said in a recent interview. “She’s going to be seven and I’ve never heard ‘I love you.’ I’ve never gotten a kiss.”
Those realities shape the emotional core of Miles’ latest song, in which she confronts street violence, unresolved shootings, and the families left behind. In raw, unfiltered verses, she raps about grieving mothers, absent fathers, and lives lost without justice. The accompanying music video features families who have lost loved ones to violence—community members telling real stories, not actors playing roles.
“It was therapy for myself as well as therapy for them,” Miles said, describing the creative process.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, firearm-related injuries remain a leading cause of death in many U.S. communities, disproportionately affecting young people and families already facing economic and social strain. Local advocates say stories like Miles’ help humanize statistics that can otherwise feel distant.
Out of her own pain, Miles has launched a nonprofit aimed at supporting families affected by violence and trauma, offering emotional support, resources, and a sense of solidarity.
“When you survive something like that,” she said, “you want to help others who are still fighting.”
Community leaders in Plant City describe her work as a bridge between awareness and action—using art to start conversations that policy debates alone often cannot.
Through her music and mission, Fye Redd is delivering a message shaped by experience rather than abstraction: healing is possible, but prevention is essential.
“The more people we can get involved,” Miles said, “the more lives we can change.”