Outrage grows after 5-year-old Black girl sexually assaulted and attacked by 9-and 10-year-old children

The victim’s mother is sharing gutwrenching details after 9-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl in Ohio were charged with attempted murder and the rape of her daughter.

Content warning: This story depicts the graphic abuse of a child. 

After a 9-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl have been charged with attempted murder and rape in connection with an attack on a 5-year-old girl in Cleveland, a mother is fighting for justice.

On Wednesday, October 15, the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office announced the two children had been charged in juvenile court with attempted murder, rape, felonious assault, kidnapping, and strangulation after the attack that occurred last month, the New York Times and CBS News reported.  

“I feel like my baby don’t have no choice but to get her justice,” the 5-year-old’s mother, Antavia Kennibrew, tearfully told ABC 5 news. 

According to Kennibrew, the incident occurred on September 13 after her daughter was dropped off at a relative’s house while the mother got a medical procedure. At some point, she received a call informing her that her daughter had left and was missing. Not long after, the young girl was found in a nearby field, where she had been violently attacked by other children. Kennibrew said her daughter was beaten and strangled, her hair torn from her head, and she was assaulted. She described the aftermath as so severe that her daughter was “unrecognizable.”

When Kennibrew arrived back at the house, she saw her daughter being treated by emergency responders. 

“I literally saw the worst thing ever,” she told CBS affiliate WOIO. 

“What I saw was unbelievable,” she continued. “My daughter was not my daughter. 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.”

The circumstances that led up to the attack remain unclear, and authorities, including the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office, are not releasing any further details to prevent compromising the investigation or the privacy and constitutional rights of all parties involved. 

The Cleveland Division of Police Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Unit is investigating the case.

Since the attack, the community has rallied around the mother and her daughter, organizing a recent toy drive for the child. 

While speaking to ABC 5, Kennibrew said, “Now I feel like it’s being looked at, it’s being taken seriously.”