A nine-year-old boy has appeared in an Ohio juvenile court facing serious charges including rape and attempted murder after a five-year-old girl was allegedly brutally attacked in September.
Courtroom Drama and Emotional Pleas
The young defendant, who cannot be named due to his age, appeared before Judge Kristen Sweeney at Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court on Thursday wearing a face mask and a green Batman hoodie. He denied all allegations against him during the proceedings.
Prosecutors outlined disturbing details of the September attack, stating that the five-year-old victim was left naked, beaten and urinated upon in a field where she remained for hours before being discovered.
The victim's mother, Antavia Kennibrew, made an emotional plea to the court, arguing passionately against allowing the accused boy to return home. "I do not believe that these kids should be able to return home," she stated, referring to both the nine-year-old boy and a ten-year-old girl who faces related charges.
Mother's Heartbreaking Account
Kennibrew described finding her daughter severely injured after the alleged attack. "I found my daughter unresponsive, bloody with her hair pulled from her scalp, her body covered in bruises," she recounted in previous social media posts.
Her daughter showed signs of strangulation and had a large lump on her head, alongside evidence suggesting she had been beaten and sexually assaulted. "My daughter did not look like herself. She was traumatised," Kennibrew told the court.
The mother argued that the young defendants' behaviour originated from their home environment and that returning them there would prevent proper accountability. "These kids did something horrible. They changed my daughter's life, the way she talks, the way she acts, the way she thinks," she said.
Legal Proceedings and Complications
Despite prosecution requests for home detention with an ankle monitor, the case took several unexpected turns. The court discovered complications in the boy's home situation when he appeared with two adults who were possible relatives but not legal guardians.
Court records revealed that the boy's mother is hospitalised and his father is deceased, creating an unstable living environment compounded by threats to the family's safety.
Judge Sweeney initially allowed the boy to return home with electronic monitoring on Thursday but subsequently ordered an emergency custody hearing. By Friday, she had placed the child in the temporary care of Cuyahoga County Division of Child and Family Services.
Both young defendants face multiple serious charges including:
- One count of attempted murder
- Four counts of rape
- Two counts of felonious assault
- One count of kidnapping
- One count of strangulation
The court has ordered competency evaluations for both children to determine if they can understand the legal proceedings. Their attorneys have requested these assessments while both defendants maintain their innocence.
The case continues with both children due back in court in January, while the community grapples with the disturbing nature of the allegations involving such young children.
