Trial begins Monday for two children accused in assault of Cleveland 5-year-old

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - Trial begins Monday for two children accused in the beating of a 5-year-old Cleveland girl, more than a year after her mother found her injured in a field.

“I literally saw the worst thing ever,” Antavia Kennibrew, the girl’s mother, said in an interview with 19 News in 2025.

The trial for the boy, now 9, and the girl, now 11, starts Monday morning.

Previous Coverage

• Children charged in brutal attack on 5-year-old Cleveland girl to undergo competency restoration
• Cleveland police connect kid suspects to beating; mother describes 5-year-old as ‘unrecognizable’
• Prosecutors charge 2 children, 9 and 10, in brutal attack on 5-year-old Cleveland girl

Case background

The girl was assaulted on Sept. 13, 2025, in a field near East 148th Street and St. Clair Avenue in Cleveland. The Cleveland Division of Police Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Unit investigated the case, which involved multiple children under the age of 10 as both victims and suspects.

In October 2025, prosecutors charged the 11-year-old girl and 9-year-old boy with attempted murder, rape, felonious assault, kidnapping and strangulation.

On April 1, Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court Judge Kristin Sweeney ordered the two children to undergo competency restoration before they could stand trial. According to court records, a change in the 11-year-old’s placement was necessary to get a true assessment of her competency. When a placement was not found, prosecutors requested she be held in the detention center during the restoration process. The court said returning to her home was not in her best interest, and the Court Diagnostics Clinic provided competency restoration services at the detention center.

Both children were previously held on home detention.

After a period of court-ordered rehabilitation, the children were later found competent to stand trial.