Woman says she was brutally attacked in Carpentersville, Illinois because she's a lesbian
A young woman from Carpentersville, Illinois, northwest of Chicago said she was attacked, bloodied, and bruised at her hometown McDonald's because she is gay.
Kady Grass said she wants hate crime charges filed against the men who did it.
"I genuinely think that their plan was to kill me, and that they didn't care if they ended my life that day," Grass said.
Grass talked to CBS News Chicago from Wisconsin, where she currently lives. The visible injuries on her face only scratched the surface of her pain.
"This will affect me for the rest of my life," she said.
Grass was left with a fractured nose, a hemorrhage on her eye, and PTSD after the attack at a Carpentersville McDonald's on Tuesday, May 13.
Grass said had come to the McDonald's with her 13-year-old cousin after the younger teen's choir concert. She said a group of strangers started harassing her as she left the restroom — using anti-gay slurs toward her.
When she walked away, she said they followed.
"I just told my cousin to look forward. 'Don't say anything. Don't give them a reason to talk to us again,'" said Grass.
Grass acknowledges she then told the strangers she is a lesbian and flicked her wrist at them. Police said witnesses and surveillance video show two people attacked her.
"I went to the ground to protect my body more," said Grass. "But at some point, I lost consciousness — that I don't remember them stomping on my head at all."
Police said they have arrested John Kammrad, 19, and a 17-year-old boy, on several charges — including aggravated battery causing great bodily harm. But the Kane County State's Attorney's office declined to issue hate crime charges — something Green wants.
"How it started was because I'm a lesbian — just because I walked into the woman's bathroom, and I looked the way I look," Grass said.
The Kane County State's Attorney's office said more charges could be possible, while Grass worries about the long-term effects for herself and her younger cousin.
"It really upsets me, but now I feel like I planted this fear inside of her head that she can no longer stand up for herself, because something like this will always happen," she said, "and I don't want to be a symbol of fear."
Kane County prosecutors said the case is back in court next Tuesday, though Kammrad has been released into the custody of DuPage County, where he faces charges on an unrelated case.
So far, an online fundraiser has collected about $1,500 to help Grass pay her medical bills.
