Chicago mom describes being brutally attacked while protecting kids outside South Side school
A mother who was attacked by a group of kids while protecting her children outside a South Side elementary school says she and her son and daughter are still suffering days after the attack.
Video of the attack has caught the attention of many across the country, and the community has stepped in to help move her out of the South Deering neighborhood.
Corshawnda Hatter said she's still in physical pain after she and her son were brutally attacked with her young daughter just steps away outside Orville Bright Elementary School on Monday.
Her legs are bruised and it's hard for her to walk, but what hurts her the most is her children are still suffering.
"My son, he's very devastated. He'll wake up in the middle of his sleep, screaming. He's screaming, 'Mommy are you there?'" she said.
Hatter said her 9-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter are traumatized after watching their mom get attacked and dragged to the ground by a group of kids. Her son was beaten, and she said one of the kids pulled her daughter's hair.
Her daughter stood off to the side, crying, watching her brother and mother get attacked.
"I felt helpless, because I was down on the ground, and he was down on the ground, and he's looking at me, screaming, like, 'Mommy, please help me. Help me.' I couldn't get up myself. I couldn't do nothing," Hatter said.
Hatter's partner, Devon Lee, the father of her two children, said Hatter suffers from sickle cell disease.
"So, I guess they seen a little weakness in her, because she's, you know, kind of walking a little slow," he said. "They have no right to put their hands on an adult."
Lee was at work when the attack happened.
Hatter said her son has been bullied for the past two years at Bright Elementary because of the way she walks and talks as a result of her sickle cell disease.
Hatter said she tried to talk to the school about the bullying, but they didn't do anything about it. On Tuesday, a large group of parents visited the school to show their support for Hatter and to help put an end to bullying.
The community immediately stepped in and moved her out of South Deering and into an undisclosed location.
Hatter said she's pressing charges against the parents of the kids who attacked her. As for her children, they'll be transferred to a different school, and she's looking to get therapy for them.
Mayor Brandon Johnson on Wednesday described the attack on Hatter as "an incredibly traumatic, horrific, violent moment."
"I don't believe I've seen anything as severe and as graphic as that," he said. "What we also saw was a clear, really disturbed display of not just violence, but I'd be hard pressed to not express that there's something there that's just not quite right, that's off."
The mayor pledged that the city would provide any necessary support and services to Hatter and her family.
"We're going to continue to put our arms around this family," he said. "I'm grateful that the people of Chicago have put their arms around this family as well."