Two Ohio children are facing multiple charges, including attempted murder, for the brutal attack on a 5-year-old girl in Cleveland last month, officials said Wednesday.
The two suspects — a 9-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl — were charged with four counts of rape, two counts of felonious assault and one count each of kidnapping, strangulation and attempted murder in connection with the Sept. 13 attack, the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office said in a news release.
They are both expected to be summoned to juvenile court at a later date, local NBC affiliate WKYC reported.
Prosecutors say the alleged attack took place in a field near East 148th Street and St. Clair Avenue.
The victim’s mother said she had dropped her daughter off at a nearby family member’s home earlier that day, but believes the girl somehow walked out the front door and was attacked.
When she heard about the assault, she rushed to the home and saw her daughter being treated by paramedics.
“I literally saw the worst thing ever — I saw my daughter unrecognizable,” the mother told Cleveland 19 News. “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.”
On Oct. 7, Cleveland police confirmed that detectives with its sex crime and child abuse unit were “actively investigating a matter involving multiple children under the age of 10, both as victims and as suspects.”
On Wednesday, prosecutors issued an update to the investigation, confirming that “based on the evidence we have currently reviewed, two juveniles have been initially charged.”
Officials are not releasing any details at this time “given sensitive nature of this case.”
