By Ari Bloomekatz
Enquirer staff writer

Treshawn Jones, 8, gets a hug from his cousin, Tioionai Jones, 11, during a welcome-home party. He spent a month in the hospital with injuries from a playground fight. Treshawn suffered cardiac arrest during the fight. The Enquirer/STEVEN M. HERPPICH

Treshawn plays a game of pool in the activity center at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center before his recent release. The Enquirer/GARY LANDERS

Three weeks ago, a machine had to breathe for Treshawn Jones after he suffered near-fatal injuries in a playground fistfight.

But the 8-year-old was smiling and giggling during a barbecue, complete with balloons and hot dogs, celebrating his homecoming from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center Wednesday night. Treshawn joked with his cousins and squirted juice on one of his friends.

While he may have seemed like the old Treshawn, doctors remain unclear exactly how much permanent brain damage he suffered in the fight near an Avondale recreation center. Police and prosecutors are unsure whether anyone will face charges in the assault.

Lakisha Jones is angry that no one had been charged in her son's beating. But she couldn't help smiling when she saw him running around the front yard.

"He wants to go swimming," she said, laughing at the thought of her recently hospitalized son jumping into water. Still, she is adamant that someone be held accountable for her son's injuries.

"My son is out of the hospital, but look what he had to go through," said Jones, of Walnut Hills. "I'm going to keep calling the police until justice is done."

Police have said a 9-year-old boy slammed Treshawn's head into the concrete during a fight last month in a park across the street from his home in the 3600 block of Reading Road. But doctors said that blow to the head wasn't what caused the most damage.

Treshawn suffered cardiac arrest during the fight, said Dr. Tim Knilans, a cardiologist who treated Treshawn. The arrest triggered a seizure and caused brain damage because Treshawn went so long without oxygen, Knilans said. Treshawn's brain functions have improved, but Knilans said he is can't predict how extensive the brain damage will be.

Carolyn Jones, Treshawn's 55-year-old grandmother and legal guardian, said boys in her neighborhood are often violent and she fears for Treshawn's safety now that he's out of the hospital.

"I really want to move. I want to move so bad," Carolyn Jones said.

The elder Jones was granted custody of Treshawn and his younger sisters in 2001.

That has proved to be a daunting task.

She now cares for those children and four other family members who live with them.

"With such a large family and limited income, they struggle greatly," said Clarence Gordon, the family's pastor at Common Ground Ministries Church of the Nazarene.

Tioionai Jones, 11, said her cousin and the 9-year-old boy had an ongoing dispute that fueled the fight on June 20.

Tioionai said she watched the fight and said the 9-year-old grabbed Treshawn's legs from underneath him, causing him to fall and hit his head on the ground. Shortly after, Treshawn stopped breathing and appeared to go into a seizure; his body shaking wildly back and forth, Tioionai said.

She ran to get help.

Emergency crews arrived and administered CPR and an electric shock to revive Treshawn. He was rushed to Children's, where he remained in critical condition for days. Treshawn's condition gradually improved.

With no one charged in the assault, police would say only that the investigation continues.

Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen said his office is waiting for doctor's reports and will use those, combined with the police investigation, to determine whether a crime was committed. A sticking point in the case is trying to determine if a pre-existing medical condition contributed to Treshawn's injuries.

Knilans said Treshawn had a heart irregularity before the assault and that contributed to his injuries.

"We believe Treshawn's underlying problem is a heart-rhythm abnormality," Knilans said.

An adrenaline rush during the fight caused Treshawn's heart to arrest and it is possible for a similar heart attack to take place in the future, the doctor said.

Knilans said his advice to Treshawn's mother and grandmother is to implant a pacemaker, which could save Treshawn's life should he suffer another cardiac arrest.

The women opted instead to keep Treshawn on medication.

"He could actually die from the pacemaker,'' said Lakisha Jones. "We took our chances with the pills."

E-mail abloomekatz@enquirer.com