Every day of the past five years has been a struggle for Delshay &#8220Shay” Robinson. But for the first time in her young life, she’s made monumental steps toward living the life of a normal kindergartner.

In August 2001, Shay suffered severe damage to her brain and central nervous system after a mysterious incident at the home of her babysitter.

The sitter, an older woman who had been keeping Shay and two other children for several months, called the 8-month-old’s mother, Della Robinson, to tell her the child was &#8220not responding.”

When Robinson rushed to the sitter’s home, she found her daughter lying on the couch unconscious, with bruises on her forehead and blood running from her nose.

Shay was rushed to then-ParkView Regional Medical Center on Grove Street, and X-rays revealed a cracked skull. Doctors immediately questioned Robinson, telling her later that due to the severity of the injury it simply could not have happened in a fall. Nor, they said, could another child have inflicted the wound.

Shay was airlifted to University Medical Center for treatment. After nearly two months in the hospital, which Robinson said was an unbearable amount of time for her and Shay’s father, Leon Robinson, to be considered the No. 1 suspects in the case, the child was released from the hospital and into the care of the Mississippi Department of Human Services.

The Robinsons fought for months to gain back custody of their little girl and eventually they won, although the suspicion that the couple was somehow involved in Shay’s injuries remained.

A second investigator, Sgt. Sandra Johnson of the Vicksburg Police Department, was assigned to the case in hopes of having a fresh pair of eyes to find new details.

Johnson started the investigation over and was able to quickly eliminate Shay’s parents as suspects.

&#8220The day I met Della, she was obviously very upset about how the investigation had gone,” Johnson said. &#8220I knew she wasn’t involved. She’s a great mother.”

No arrests have been made in the case. And, the sitter would never really give details of the whole story, Johnson said.

&#8220All she confirmed was that Shay was fine when her mother dropped her off that morning. After that, we don’t know what happened,” Johnson said.

&#8220And, sadly, nothing has changed. It’s not currently being investigated. Until someone talks, we won’t know what happened to her,” Johnson has said.

But Johnson said there still isn’t a day that passes that she doesn’t hope for a confession in the case.

&#8220It’s very difficult for me because I was able to offer no relief to the mother at all because I couldn’t find out who hurt her baby,” she said.

But life has gone on for the little girl, and, today, Shay is 6 years old and enrolled in &#8220big school” at Dana Road Elementary.

She receives occupational, physical and speech therapy at school and then additional OT and PT once a week at Good Samaritan Physical Therapy.

Karla Ashley, the occupational therapist that works with Shay at Good Samaritan, said the main goal is to try to get Shay to reassociate hand movement in her left arm, the side paralyzed from the brain damage.

&#8220She’s been ignoring that hand for years, so now that she’s getting older, we’re working with her on understanding that she needs to try to use it as much as possible,” Ashley said.

Shay has shoulder movement on the left side, but no wrist or finger movement, Ashley said.

Shay also receives Botox shots every three months to relax her muscles and still wears a brace on her left arm and leg.

But the progress the 6-year-old has made is remarkable.

When her mother and father were married this summer, Shay was a miniature bride who walked down the aisle with great pride.

&#8220She was more excited than we were. She was telling anybody who would listen that her mom and dad were getting married,” her mother said.

And she’s so smart, Robinson said. She can recite all the months of the year, numbers, letters and shapes. She can even imitate barnyard animal sounds.

&#8220She loves to learn,” Robinson said. &#8220She’s still Shay. She never meets a stranger. She doesn’t like to see other people upset. It makes her upset.”

But Robinson’s still searching for answers.

&#8220The older she gets, the more I hurt. I’m still very overprotective and probably always will be. I would feel better if she was born like this or if I knew it was an accident,” she said. &#8220It would give me relief to know what happened that day. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about what happened to my baby.”

Shay’s back in day care now, too. She spends mornings and afternoons with family friend Love Prentiss, whom Robinson said has been a blessing.

&#8220I wish she had come into my life from the beginning. When she has her, I don’t have to worry. She loves Shay like she’s her own. She puts her on the school bus in the morning and watches her after school. I just think, ‘If only she had been caring for Shay in the beginning,’” Robinson said.

Robinson said the terror of the incident and the anger she feels at having no answers rushes back frequently.

&#8220I served on the Grand Jury in July and heard arguments in a child abuse case,” she said. &#8220It literally made me sick. Being on that jury, I know if a jury would have heard my baby’s case, somebody would have been arrested.”

Shay’s smile can light up a room. She reaches out to hug you, and, if you let her, she’ll sit in your lap and twirl a strand of hair around her tiny finger. And when it’s time to leave, she won’t hesitate to say, &#8220I love you.”

&#8220I don’t want pity. I just want Shay to have a normal life,” Robinson said.

But she finds peace in the fact that her daughter’s story has touched so many.

&#8220We were shopping one day, a 10-year-old girl came up to us and wanted to give Shay a dollar. I wouldn’t take it,” Robinson said.

&#8220But then the child’s mother came up and said it was OK and that her daughter fell in love with Shay after reading a story about her in the newspaper a couple of years ago and that she prayed for Shay every night. All I could say to that was, ‘Please continue to pray for Shay.’ I truly believe that when praises go up, blessings come down.”