2 children to face competency restoration after being charged in brutal attack of 5-year-old girl 

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO/Gray News) - Two children, ages 9 and 11, who are charged in connection with the brutal assault of a 5-year-old girl last year must undergo competency restoration before they can stand trial.

Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court Judge Kristin Sweeney issued her ruling April 1 after the suspects were evaluated by doctors in March.

Last October, prosecutors charged the 11-year-old girl and the 9-year-old boy with attempted murder, rape, felonious assault, kidnapping and strangulation.

The suspects allegedly assaulted a 5-year-old girl on Sept. 13, 2025, in a field in Cleveland, Ohio.

The victim’s mother, Antavia Kennibrew, said her daughter was beaten, assaulted and scalped.

“This type of behavior doesn’t deserve grace. They knew what they were doing,” Kennibrew said of the suspects in an earlier court hearing. “They were OK with that. They even played after not caring about my baby.”

Kennibrew said she dropped her daughter off at a family member’s home. The 5-year-old walked out of the home at some point, and that is when she was allegedly assaulted.

Kennibrew returned and saw her daughter being treated by EMS officials several blocks from the home.

“What I saw was unbelievable,” she said. “My daughter was not my daughter. 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 stuck in them.”

The girl was put in therapy shortly after. Her mother said she just wants her daughter to be “somewhat of a normal 5-year-old again.”