An grandmother savagely beaten in a home invasion earlier this month is speaking out after being released from the intensive care unit and says she hopes her assailant is captured and punished.



Authorities said the home invasion took place around 1:15 p.m. May 19, in the 4100 block of N. Avers Ave. in the city’s Irving Park neighborhood on the Northwest Side.

The 78-year-old woman, who family requested not be identified for her safety, was cleaning her home when a man came to her door, according to the victim’s daughter.

She says she wants the attacker to pay for what he did to her and to respect the elderly

“Apparently she said that her back door was ajar because she was cleaning the kitchen,” Ivonne Morales, the woman's daughter, said.

“Then the guy kind of peeked in and said something about ‘Is there an apartment for rent?’ and my mom said, ‘On the third floor,’ and she thought that he was walking away so she just continued doing what she was doing and apparently he attacked her from behind,” Morales continued. [[423307314, C]]

With a bloody towel on her head, she made her way to the back door where a neighbor saw her and called 911.

“The lady heard noises and came out and saw her with a towel drenched in blood,” Morales said.

The woman was taken to Saint Francis Hospital in Evanston in critical condition, according to police, and was placed in a medically-induced coma. She remained sedated Saturday, family said, but was talking a bit and sharing her account of the attack.

"She kept saying 'he told me not to look at him,' and then she closes her eyes," the victim's daughter Lissette Martinez said. "Why should she go through this just for some jewelry? Just for some jewelry?"

The victim's daughter said she suffered a fractured nose, bleeding on the brain and stitches on her eye – which her family said could easily leave her without any vision at all.

“She’s legally blind in one eye and the eye that they damaged is now patched up,” Morales said. “I mean, can you just imagine how she feels right now? She can’t see, she’s traumatized probably.” [[423251384, C]]

Her family said Saturday that her injuries appeared worse than they did the day before, adding that it will be a long and tough recovery as they wait for CAT scan results to assess the bleeding on her brain.

“All day yesterday, I guess I was in shock,” Morales said. “I decided to stay with my mom and last night I was by myself and that’s when I just broke down,” she added. “I needed it.”

A former nurse in Puerto Rico, family members said the victim is the kindest woman they know and lives a modest life. Standing under 5’ tall, they said she would have let the intruder take anything he wanted without a fight – and that he only got away with a few items.

“They went through her room, they went through her drawers and they found a little bit of jewelry,” Morales said, adding that seeing the extent of her mother’s injuries fills her with anger.

“How could anybody do this to an elderly woman?” she asked. “She can’t do anything.” [[423331964, C]]

No one is in custody in connection with the attack, according to police, who said the offender was described as a tall Hispanic man wearing glasses and a red cap.

Morales and the victim’s family delivered an emotional plea for someone to come forward, as they hope for justice in the senseless beating.

“How would you feel if this was done to your mother? To your wife, to your daughter?” Morales asked. “Anyone listening to this – we just want justice.”

The investigation is ongoing, and anyone with information on the incident is asked to contact detectives at (312) 744-8263.