Seven children have been officially charged for the viral November attack of a young mother and her son in Chicago.
According to NBC Chicago, three 10-year-old boys, a 10-year-old girl, an 11-year-old girl, a 12-year-old boy, and a 13-year-old girl were each charged with one or more misdemeanor counts of battery causing bodily harm. Each child was referred for counseling services and then released from custody.
The investigation into the situation is still ongoing.
In November, 33-year-old Corshawnda Hatter and her nine-year-old son were attacked by a group of people. Afterwards, authorities took them to a hospital where they were listed, initially, in "serious condition."
Hatter later revealed that the situation was related to bullying that her child experienced at a local elementary school.
"I can’t sleep because I wake up in the middle of the night with that vision in my head of my son calling my name to help him, and I couldn’t do anything for him," she said. "That really hurt me the most."
After the incident, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson released a statement detailing how "deeply disturbed" he was after seeing the video.
"That type of behavior is unacceptable in our city, and we must not normalize that type of senseless violence," he said. "Leaders from my office have been on the ground all day to coordinate with CPS, CPD, and CHA to respond to this incident. CPD has deployed additional resources to the area to maintain public safety, and we are working with CHA on additional measures to support the family."
"I will continue to monitor this situation closely as I get updates from the ground and as the investigation unfolds," Johnson continued. "It is critical that we provide the necessary resources to our public education system so that every school community has counselors and mental health professionals. We must redouble our efforts to teach our young people that violence is never an acceptable response."
