A ten-year-old made her first court appearance after being charged with the rape and attempted murder of a young child.
The girl, who has not been named publicly because of her age, is accused of attacking the five-year-old in Cleveland, Ohio.
Antavia Kennibrew, the victim’s mother, said she discovered her child severely injured and disfigured after she managed to leave a family member’s home in September.
‘I found my daughter unresponsive, bloody with her hair pulled from her scalp, her body covered in bruises,’ Kennibrew wrote on Facebook.
Her daughter had ‘signs of strangulation,’ a ‘big lump on her head,’ and appeared to have been beaten and raped.
‘I couldn’t believe what I saw in front of me. My daughter did not look like herself. She was traumatized,’ Kennibrew said.
Officials launched an investigation and charged the girl and a nine-year-old boy with attempted murder, rape, assault, kidnapping and strangulation.
The ten-year-old appeared in juvenile court on Wednesday wearing a face mask and a pink coat, and was accompanied by an unidentified woman who wore a hood over her head and walked with a cane, WOIO reported.
Antavia Kennibrew said her five-year-old daughter was scalped and raped by a group of children in September
A ten-year-old girl and a nine-year-old boy have been charged with attempted murder, rape, assault, kidnapping and strangulation over the alleged attack, which took place near the Cleveland home (pictured) of one of the victim’s family members
Kennibrew pleaded with the judge not to be unduly lenient on the suspects because of their age on Wednesday
Kennibrew pleaded with the judge not to be unduly lenient on the suspects because of their age, according to Cleveland.com.
‘This type of behavior doesn’t deserve grace. They knew what they were doing. And they were okay with that. They even played after not caring about my baby. Remember that,’ she said.
‘[My daughter] has been going through it, and that’s how it should be for the offenders. This type of behavior doesn’t deserve grace.’
Neither the ten-year-old nor the woman who accompanied her spoke at the hearing, but her lawyer denied the charges.
A judge placed her on home detention with an ankle monitor, noting that the girl’s parents were not at the hearing, and ordered a competency evaluation. Her next hearing is scheduled for January.
The nine-year-old boy was supposed to appear in court but did not show up. His lawyer asked for a continuance, claiming the boy’s mother’s car had broken down.
The judge rescheduled the hearing for the following week and warned that if he does not show up, she will issue an arrest warrant.
Kennibrew claimed that the youngsters took her daughter ‘by her hand and walked her to a field that was far away from the residence’.
The ten-year-old girl appeared in court on Wednesday wearing a face mask and a pink coat, and was accompanied by a woman (pictured) who wore a hood over her head and walked with a cane
Kennibrew said her daughter is traumatized and is having ‘behavioral problems’ as a result of the attack
‘In that field, they beat my daughter until she was unconscious,’ she said. ‘They ripped out her hair… They also shoved sticks down her throat. They stripped her naked and strangled her with her own shirt.’
She further alleged that her daughter is having ‘behavioral problems’ as a result of the attack.
‘She is mentally not OK. Me not getting justice for my daughter makes me feel like I failed her,’ Kennibrew said.
‘I literally saw the worst thing ever! I saw my daughter unrecognizable. I couldn’t wrap my head around it.’
Kennibrew described the scene as ‘unbelievable’ and claimed that in addition to being badly beaten and scalped, her daughter was raped.
‘My daughter was not my daughter,’ she said. ‘Her hair was scalped from her head. She had bruises and blood all over her body.
‘Her eyes were filled with blood. Her lips and mouth were filled with blood. Her nails had debris and dirt stuck in it.’
The case continues.