FLINT, MI – An 87-year-old woman was beaten, raped and robbed as she was bringing in groceries outside her home near Bradley Avenue and Reynolds Street Monday.

The woman was hospitalized and is undergoing tests, her family said.

"A man walking by grabbed her from behind and brought her inside," said Chelsea Byrd, the woman's great-granddaughter. "She was attacked and robbed and then he left."

The assault happened around noon, the woman's family said. The woman called family members and then police following the attack.

She's lived in the same house for over 30 years near West Corunna Road and will turn 88 in November.

"He told her he would kill her if she fought, so she just waited," for the man to leave, Byrd said.

Family members asked the woman why she hadn't moved from her home.

"She said 'It's bad around here, but not bad enough,'" Byrd said her grandmother told her. "She will be (moving now) if I have anything to say about it."

Family members said the violence in the area has escalated in recent years.

A woman at a home across the street from where the 87-year-old lives declined comment through the a closed door Monday.

"I don't know anything. I just got home," she told The Flint Journal. "I'm not interested."

Family members of the woman said she was in good spirits at the hospital and was up walking around.

"I think rage is pretty good," when Byrd was asked about her reaction to hearing her great-grandmother was assaulted. "We all just really want to know what, why and how."

A phone call seeking information from the Flint Police Department was not immediately returned Monday evening.

Dominic Adams is a police reporter for The Flint Journal. Contact him at dadams5@mlive.com or 810-241-8803. Follow him on Twitter or Facebook.