Activists Rally To Support 13-Year-Old Rape Victim In Englewood
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Englewood community came together Tuesday night to support a 13-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted on the way to school.
Police have released a sketch of the man they say pulled the girl into an alley at 59th and Wood streets in Englewood, and sexually assaulted her.
CBS 2's Pamela Jones report on how neighbors are fighting to make things safer for kids.
At a rally and vigil for the victim Tuesday night, Englewood residents marched to trample the fear growing on their streets.
Just steps away, a man snatched a 13-year-old in an alley and raped her while she was on her way to school last week.
She got away. Her mom ran to a neighbor's house to call police.
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"When she got raped, her momma ran here, beating on my window, because her momma walks her to school every day," said neighbor Cloteal Davis. "This particular day, she left on her own."
Davis said she's lived near 59th and Wood for 53 years, but she's never seen the suspect the victim described to police.
"I'm quite sure the rapist, he should have sisters, and mothers, and aunties, and nieces, and stuff. How would he like for them to do his like that?" Davis said.
Twelve-year-old Carlos Humphrey said he walks down the same street to school with his sisters every day. He's afraid of what could happen to them.
"I tell them, 'stay in front of me, and keep walking,'" he said. He knows walking past abandoned homes and vacant lots adds to the danger kids face in Englewood.
It's why activists were calling on the city to provide watchmen at those kinds of places.
"We're sick and tired of vacant lots. We're sick and tired of foreclosures. And we are going to take our community back," said one of the women speaking at Tuesday night's candlelight vigil for the victim.
The community group "Action Now" organized Tuesday night's event. They said they want the city to pass the so-called "Safe Passages Ordinance," which calls for watchmen at vacant buildings within 1,000 feet of a school.
The victim of last week's attack was just a couple of blocks from school, and just steps away from her home, when her attacker began talking to her.
