Vicious Halloween attack on Staten Island leaves 12-year-old boy beaten and mother horrified
NEW DORP, Staten Island (WABC) -- A mother and her 12-year-old son are speaking out about a terrifying attack on Halloween, when the boy was beaten while hanging out with some friends on Staten Island.
Mona Awad, the 12-year-old's mother, says it's as if she could feel every punch.
"Just kept hitting him in the face, and he's telling them, 'please stop hitting me, I didn't do anything,'" Awad said.
She says her son came home gushing blood.
"They did a number on his mouth," Awad said.
His lip was split wide open. His front tooth was nearly knocked out.
"And I see his face leaking, and he's crying, and that was it," Awad said. "I didn't even stop - I ran out of the door frantic."
It happened on Halloween night. The 12-year-old boy had just finished trick-or-treating and was hanging out in a park in New Dorp with a friend, when out of nowhere, he says the two suspects approached, pinning them against a fence. The victim says they didn't ask any questions, they just started punching and wouldn't stop.
"I was just yelling, 'stop! I didn't really do anything at all! Stop!' and then they just kept going," the victim said. "And they bashed my head on the fence."
The story began much earlier that day in the same park, with an incident Awad says her son was not part of. He was somewhere else.
"Trick-or-treating with his best friend and his best friend's mom. He was nowhere near this," Awad said.
A group of neighborhood boys allegedly harassed three girls at the park. Awad says video of it was shared on social media. Her son, she believes, was viciously beaten with brass knuckles because his attackers mistook him for someone who was involved.
"He could have dropped dead a block away from me," Awad said. "They could have hit him, he could have fell and hit his head on the concrete."
Police are investigating everything Awad shared with Eyewitness News, but no one has been arrested yet, and Awad's 12-year-old son hasn't left home ever since.
"I was just like nervous and I don't really want people to see my face," the 12-year-old said.
"I've lost sleep over it. The kid hasn't gone back to school yet. It was Halloween - he's 12. It's not supposed to be like that," Awad said.
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