DeVonlee and DeVonya Hatter walked into the Calumet Township Medical Center Tuesday night to find a Christmas tree surrounded by gifts, though they weren’t from Santa.
They came through the help of rapper Lil Zay Osama and Roseland Ceasefire.
For DeVonlee, a Playstation 5, complete with a controller and the latest NBA game, as well as Hotwheels tracks, a toy Bronco truck and new clothes. For his younger sister, about a dozen Barbie dolls, princess dresses and a manicure set.
The 10 and 6-year-olds received the gifts just more than a month after they and their mother, Corshawnda Hatter, were attacked by seven children while walking home from school in the South Deering neighborhood.
“Knowing I have people behind me, I’m very thankful,” said Hatter, at the event in which she suggested she wanted tougher charges. “I’m so grateful for the community helping me and my kids. … I didn’t know we had so many supporters.”
Chicago police said the children attacked the 33-year-old mother and her children in the 10600 block of South Bensley Avenue in South Deering around 3 p.m. on Nov. 17. Hatter and her son were taken to Advocate Trinity Hospital where they were listed in serious condition at the time.
The alleged assailants, ranging in age from 10 to 13, were charged with misdemeanor battery causing bodily harm and assigned to counseling before being released, police said.
Lil Zay Osama, legally Isaiah Dukes, said he had seen a video of the attack that had gone viral. As a former Chicagoan and a parent himself, he wanted to give back to the kids and their mom after their traumatic experience. The gifts were picked out after phone calls with the kids where they discussed their interests and favorite recording artists.
“I got kids,” he told reporters over a video call from his home in California before the children arrived.
After the attack, Mayor Brandon Johnson said on social media he was “deeply disturbed” by the videos of the attack that circulated widely online. Johnson said his office had been working with police and the Chicago Housing Authority to support the family, who was relocated, and respond to the incident. He said the police would deploy “additional resources” to the area, and community groups would provide safe passage for students and families at the elementary school.
Dukes said he blames kids having too much time on their hands and a lack of things to do, and said he’d like to see more after school programs in response to the incident.
The rapper is a product of the programs himself — as a kid, he would make use of a studio at the Harold Washington Cultural Center, setting the course for his path as an artist and giving him a place to be outside school hours.
“We need positive distractions from the streets,” he said.
But despite the gifts for her children and a $650 check from the organization, Hatter has a long way to go in recovery from the attack, with some wounds she said may never heal. She told reporters she is unable to have children due to her injuries.
She said she had retained a lawyer and was unhappy with the charges brought against the group who attacked her and her children.
“I’m not sure how I’m gonna go on with this much hurt,” Hatter said. “I’m still fighting for my justice.”
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