Update: Dec. 22 at 2:31 p.m. The Root previously reported that cellphone footage captured a Chicago mother and her young son being followed home and ambushed by a group of Orville T. Bright School students in November. Now, just over a month after the incident went viral, angered the community and had the internet demanding justice, there’s been a major break in the case.
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Seven juveniles — all 13 or younger — have been charged with battery, according to Chicago police. Prosecutors charged a 13-year-old girl, three 10-year-old boys, a 10-year-old girl, an 11-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy with criminal charges for their alleged connection to the battery of Corshawna Hatter, 33, and her 9-year-old son.
“All were referred for counseling services and were released from custody,” CPD officials said, WGN 9 reported.
Folks online responded to the announcement.
“Just counseling? Like that will make a difference? Oh please! These gang of kids attacking vulnerable people is abhorrent,” one person on X wrote. “The parents of these kids need charged!”
A second person suggested, “Start jailing the parents, that’s the only way this gets fixed.”
A third X user encouraged Hatter to, “Sue the school. These kids parents need to be held responsible as well. Therapy isn’t going to help these kids.”
Original story: Nov. 18, 4:09 p.m.
It’s one thing to have to deal with the emotional, mental and physical toll of a disease, and it’s one thing to get jumped by a group of middle schoolers. But imagine dealing with both at the same time. That’s what one Chicago mom reportedly experienced this week in a harrowing attack that was filmed. And now, the community is demanding justice.
An Instagram account posted clips early Tuesday morning of a mother with two young children, including her 9-year-old son, being attacked while walking them home from the Orville Bright Elementary School on the city’s Far South Side. The Chicago police said the attack unfolded Monday just after 3 p.m. on the 10600 block of South Bensley Avenue.
In the extremely disturbing clips, young children can be seen repeatedly hitting the woman as she tried to shield herself from the blows. After she fell down during the attack, other kids can be seen kicking her and stomping her while other kids encouraged it and even celebrated.
The group of kids, who was seen in a clip following the mother and two children, can be heard insulting her and yelling, “Yeah b*tch! Yeah b*tch!,” while hitting her. The person behind the camera who captured the incident can be heard instructing another student to, “Smack that b*tch.” The mom’s son can also be seen trying to protect her, but the kids attacked him, too.
WGN-TV identified the woman as 33-year-old Carshawnda Hatter. The mom and her son was treated at Trinity Hospital in serious condition after the attack.
In a follow-up Instagram post, Hatter can be seen wearing a red coat, according to the caption, at the school the following day, with parents who showed up to defend and support her. Folks gathered outside of the school, expressing frustrations about ongoing behavior issues amongst its students.
“They were literally waiting (along) the way we walk home, just to jump all of us,” Hatter told media Tuesday, adding how she “asked my kids to come to the next side of the street with me, so they wouldn’t get jumped.” She went on to describe how the kids “followed us all the way. … And then they fought my son and hit my son first. … Then they dragged me in the grass.”
Now, the community is demanding accountability.
“it’s good seeing A VILLAGE Come together for a cause! God Bless her and her kids it hit harder seeing her in person and feeling that,” one person wrote on Instagram who said they were at the school to support Hatter.
“JAIL AND WHOOPINGS,” a second added.
A third person commented: “This hurt me. I actually cried. This was so sad, disgusting, and disturbing. […] Them kids need to be held accountable and punished. There needs to be serious consequences!”
Someone else wrote how if Hatter “would’ve been legally carrying and feared for her and her children’s lives due to the wild pack of animals attacking her she would’ve reacted out of fear and panic… everybody woulda been saying she was wrong.”
One person suggested police should, “Find out who these kids are and lock them up & make they parents pay them restitution for pain & suffering.”
As of this writing, no arrests have been made.
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