It started as a routine walk home from school, the kind of afternoon every parent in Chicago takes for granted. But for Corshawnda Hatter, a 33-year-old mother just trying to look out for her kids, that walk turned into a nightmare that has now captured the attention of the entire city. While picking up her nine-year-old son and six-year-old daughter from Orville T. Bright Elementary on the South Side, Corshawnda found herself at the center of a brutal, viral attack that left her and her young son in the hospital.
The footage, which has been making the rounds on social media, is tough to watch. It shows a group of kids, some as young as ten, chasing and taunting the family near 106th Street and Bensley Avenue. Things escalated quickly, and before anyone could step in, Corshawnda was being hit and dragged to the ground. She later described the moment as one of pure helplessness, watching her son get beaten right next to her while he screamed for her to help him. Even her six-year-old daughter wasn’t spared the terror, as one of the attackers reportedly pulled the little girl’s hair while she stood by crying.
What makes this story even more heartbreaking is that Corshawnda says she saw this coming. She had been warning school officials for two years that her son was being bullied. She believes the kids targeted him because of the way she walks and talks—a physical result of her battle with sickle cell disease. Despite her repeated pleas for help, she says the school did nothing, leaving her family to face these “bullies” on their own.
In the wake of the attack, the community hasn’t stayed quiet. Outraged parents and neighbors gathered outside the school to demand accountability and better safety measures. The outcry was so loud that the city’s top leaders, including Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Chicago Teachers Union, had to speak out. The Mayor called the video “horrific” and “disturbed,” promising that the city would step up to provide the resources and counseling the family desperately needs.
As for the kids involved, seven minors between the ages of 10 and 13 have been charged with misdemeanor battery. Because of their ages, they were released to their families and referred for counseling rather than being held in custody. While the legal process plays out, investigators have discovered that this same group of kids may have been terrorizing other families in the South Deering neighborhood for months, including a recent attack on a young man with autism.
For Corshawnda and her children, life is never going to be the same. Her son is struggling with night terrors, waking up in the middle of the night screaming for his mom. The physical bruises on Corshawnda’s legs might eventually fade, but the emotional scars are much deeper. The community has since helped the family move to an undisclosed location just so they can feel safe enough to sleep through the night.
Looking ahead, Corshawnda isn’t backing down. She’s planning to transfer her kids to a new school and is looking into pressing charges against the parents of the children who attacked them. She wants to make sure no other mother has to lie on the pavement, feeling powerless to save her child from the very kids they go to school with every day.
