13-year-old beaten unconscious at After School Matters Gately Park location, mother wants answers

CHICAGO - Editor's note: This story contains video and content that some viewers may find disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised.

A 13-year-old boy was beaten unconscious by a group at the After School Matters Gately Park location in Pullman, authorities said.

Police say he was rushed to the emergency room in critical condition.

Now his mother wants answers about who did this to her son and why.

The backstory:

Chicago police said the attack happened around noon Sept. 12 in the 10200 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue. Police said the 13-year-old was battered by multiple unknown offenders and transported to Comer Children's Hospital in critical condition.

Area Two detectives are investigating.

FOX Chicago is identifying the boy only as "MJ" and his mother by her first name, Tiffany. Portions of the attack video are also being blurred.

Tiffany says she believes some of the teenagers involved may be gang affiliated and her family is concerned about possible retaliation. Police have not publicly identified the attackers as gang members and have described them only as multiple unknown offenders.

Tiffany told FOX Chicago that young people have contacted her and members of her family since the attack. She says those communications are among the reasons she believes some of those involved may be associated with a gang.

Video shows attack on 13-year-old

Video obtained by FOX Chicago shows a group surrounding and attacking MJ. We redacted the video because they all appear to be minors, but Tiffany has the original video showing their faces.

His mother says her son was already on the ground and unconscious when the beating continued.

"He could have been gone," Tiffany said. "They was still kicking him and he was already on the ground asleep."

Tiffany says she was asleep when calls began coming in about her son. Her older son woke her and told her MJ had been attacked.

By the time she arrived, she says her son was on his way to Comer Children's Hospital.

"I was hysterical," Tiffany said. "I don't really remember the events up until getting there. Like, it's kind of blank."

Then someone sent her video of what happened.

"It was just traumatizing. It was traumatizing," she said.

Mother questions security at Gately Park location

Tiffany says MJ was at the Cottage Grove location supporting a friend who was there for a job interview connected to After School Matters.

According to his mother, MJ was not interviewing for a job himself. She says he went along to support his friend.

Tiffany says her son told her there was a security guard inside the location. She is now questioning whether more could have been done to protect him.

"To have security and for security to say the child cameras don't work and she called the police, I just don't feel like that was good enough," Tiffany said. "What about my son?"

Tiffany says witnesses told her the group converged on MJ while another young person tried to help.

"All the boys went towards [him], so he really had no chance," she said.

FOX Chicago has contacted After School Matters seeking its account of what happened, whether security was present, whether surveillance cameras were operational and what safety measures were in place.

‘It's like he a baby all over again’

Tiffany describes MJ as an active 13-year-old who enjoys rapping and has participated in basketball, football, boxing and karate.

"I try to keep him active so he's not in the streets," she said.

His mother says life has changed dramatically since the attack.

Tiffany says MJ was unconscious following the beating and only recently woke up. He has since been transferred to a rehabilitation center.

She says an MRI showed spots on his brain and that her son is struggling with his balance and cannot walk independently.

"He just keep, he not himself," Tiffany said.

"He just keeps saying, ‘Mommy, can you lay with me?’" she said. "It's like he a baby all over again."

Tiffany says MJ is under 24-hour supervision and is receiving physical therapy. She says occupational and speech therapy are also expected to be part of his recovery.

The injuries could also affect his eighth grade year.

"And this his eighth grade year," Tiffany said.

‘Mom, I didn't see them coming’

Tiffany says MJ remembers little about the attack itself.

"He said, ‘Mom, I didn't see them coming,’" she recalled.

According to Tiffany, MJ told her he and other young people were outside as a bus approached when someone confronted him.

"He said as the bus is pulling up, some boy said, ‘Ain't you that little shorty that be dissing?’ And that's all he remember," Tiffany said.

His mother is now trying to piece together the moments her son cannot remember.

Mother asks parents to come forward

Despite watching the video of her son being beaten, Tiffany says anger isn't the emotion driving her.

"I'm hurt. I'm not mad, because those are our kids," she said.

Her message is now directed at the parents of young people who may have information.

"I just want whoever kids it is to step up and help me get justice for my son because he didn't deserve this," Tiffany said. "He only a baby. He only 13 years old."

"I want the kids or the parents to step. Somebody," she said. 

What's next:

For Tiffany, the search for answers continues while her son faces an uncertain recovery.

She doesn't yet know when MJ will be able to walk independently, return to school or resume the activities that filled his life before the attack.

For now, his request to his mother is much simpler.

"Mommy, can you lay with me?"

And Tiffany says that's exactly where she intends to remain — side by side with her son.

Area Two detectives continue to investigate. Police have described the attackers as multiple unknown offenders.

 

PullmanNews