The godson of Yonkers native and rap star Jadakiss is opening up about overcoming adversity in a new book that he wrote after a 2019 shooting left him partially paralyzed.

Denim Jones said he was just 12 years old when his life changed forever on Sept. 8, 2019.

"I was shot on my neck and I was partially paralyzed from the waist down," Jones said.

Police said two people each fired a single shot, just before 2 a.m., in the direction of the group that Jones was in, right in front of a Highland Avenue building. Jones got hit, the suspects fled and five years later no arrests were made, according to investigators and his mom, Shelley Smiley.

"I know that Yonkers police did work hard with me and when the time is right for that person to get caught for what he did or she did - they will be captured at that time," Smiley said.

Jones, who is now 18, said his road to recovery took a while. He spent nearly a year in the hospital and still has to do physical and occupational therapy years later. They're circumstances that he said he didn't always want to accept or adapt to.

"I didn't really understand anything at first, but over time I understood and I outgrew a shell that I had," Jones said.

Jones said he took his experience and turned it into a book called "To Be Denim Strong." He and his mom held a book signing at Yonkers Social Lounge on Wednesday to promote it.

"Being somebody from Yonkers, where a young man was [at the] wrong place [and] wrong time, and you hear the rumors start...To know that he understood that this happened for a reason and 'I'm still going to make something positive of it,' he just finds a way to motivate and inspire other people," said supporter Dewayne Shinault.

Shinault added that he hopes other people in Yonkers continue to rally behind Jones and his book, especially since he graduated high school on time and is slated to go to college in January.

"This is just a continuation of living in a village that's in a middle of a city," Shinault said.

Yonkers police said they are still looking for leads about the shooting. Anyone with information is asked to give them a call.

To learn more about Jones' book, please visit this website.