Two grade-school children have been charged in what a mother said was a brutal attack on her 5-year-old daughter that left her unrecognizable.
On September 13, Antavia Kennibrew dropped her daughter off at a family member’s home, according to WEWS. But she later got a call that the 5-year-old left the home on her own and was missing, the outlet reported.
When she arrived at the home, her daughter was being treated by EMS, WEWS reported.
“What I saw was unbelievable,” Kennibrew told WOIO. “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. Her nails had debris and dirt in it.”
Kennibrew told WEWS her daughter was taken into woods by a group of kids and was attacked and sexually assaulted.
“A group of bigger kids, around ages 8, 9, and 10 walked up to my daughter, presenting (themselves) as friendly, took her by her hand and walked her to a field that was far away from the residence. In that field, they beat my daughter until she was unconscious,” Kennibrew said in a GoFundMe page.
The mother described additional details, but due to their graphic nature, McClatchy News is not sharing that information.
Kennibrew said in the GoFundMe page that the kids left her daughter for dead in the woods. As family members searched for the girl, a parent of one of the kids brought the kids back, and they finally told them where the girl was, according to Kennibrew.
On October 15, the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office shared a post on Facebook announcing that two children, a 9-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl, have been charged in connection with the alleged assault.
“These kids broke my (daughter’s) spirit. They took away her boundaries,” the GoFundMe page said.
The two children are charged with attempted murder, four counts of rape, two counts of felonious assault, kidnapping and strangulation.
The prosecutor’s office said the investigation into the case is ongoing.
By JENNIFER RODRIGUEZ/McClatchy News
Jennifer Rodriguez is a McClatchy National Real-Time reporter covering the Central and Midwest regions. She joined McClatchy in 2023 after covering local news in Youngstown, Ohio, for over six years. Jennifer has made several achievements in her journalism career, including receiving the Robert R. Hare Award in English, the Emerging Leader Justice and Equality Award, the Regional Edward R. Murrow Award and the Distinguished Hispanic Ohioan Award.