CHICAGO (WLS) — There was a plea deal Thursday in the case of a Chicago woman charged with attacking a young girl.
Alexis Davila pleaded guilty to battering the child because she would not move her puppy out of the woman’s way.
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In court, the victim faced her attacker.
Trinity Washington is now 12, and she wanted her voice heard in court.
“It did have a huge impact on my life; I never thought this could happen to me,” Washington said.
Davila tearfully apologized in court Thursday, but left Leighton Criminal courthouse without comment.
Davila pleaded guilty to an unprovoked attack on Trinity in 2023 with a glass bottle in Chicago’s Lawndale neighborhood.
In September 2023, Washington was an 11-year-old in pain. Her nose was broken, and her eye is permanently damaged.
She’s had surgeries and therapy, but the physical and psychological pain remain.
“What happened to her was horrible, but she was able to stand in her truth today. And I just couldn’t be more proud of her,” teacher Darius Woods said.
Wanda Porter addressed the court, calling this violence motivated by hate, as she and her children were called a racist slur before the attack.
Porter is Washington’s mom.
“To see Trinity arise in such a moment that could have really paralyzed a child was beautiful to behold,” principal Danyale Woods said.
Davila was never charged with a hate crime, despite calls for charges to be upgraded by activists.
Davila’s guilty plea to aggravated battery was part of a plea deal in which other charges were dropped, and Davila gets alcohol addiction treatment, anger management and her General Educational Development, or GED, tests.
Davila previously served five months in jail, then four months on electronic monitoring.
On Thursday, she was sentenced to probation.
“I felt like the justice system, something happens to a child, it should have been more,” Porter said.
“It’s not fair; I had to suffer the consequences, and I feel like you should have to suffer the consequences,” Washington said.
Washington’s mom also shared in her victim impact statement the toll this has taken on the whole family, and how she is trying to help Washington and her son move forward.
“This stuff is so traumatic. I want them to know there is light at the end of tunnel, and we all will overcome it,” Porter said.
Washington wants to be a pediatrician, and, after all the medical procedures, she’s even more committed to be a pediatrician. She said she is writing a book to help other kids overcome trauma.
She said she doesn’t want to be defined by this incident.
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