A 19-year-old lesbian has demanded that prosecutors add hate-crime counts against two teens who punched, kicked, and stomped her unconscious inside a McDonald’s northwest of Chicago earlier this month. Kady Grass, who grew up in Carpentersville but now lives in Wisconsin, says the May 13 attack was triggered solely by her sexual orientation and “could easily have ended in murder.”
Grass and her 13-year-old cousin had stopped at the restaurant after the younger girl’s choir concert. As Grass left the women’s restroom, two male strangers, later identified as John Kammrad, 19, of Elgin, and a 16-year-old boy, allegedly hurled homophobic slurs at her, calling her a “f****t.” When she told her cousin to ignore them and walked away, the pair followed. Grass says she confirmed she was gay and made a dismissive wrist-flick; moments later, one teen struck her in the jaw while the other rushed from behind. Security footage shows the assailants pinning her to the tile and kicking her head until she lost consciousness.
“I genuinely think their plan was to kill me and didn’t care if I died right there,” Grass told reporters this week, speaking through visible bruises, a fractured nose, and a blood-red hemorrhage in one eye. Doctors also diagnosed post-traumatic stress, injuries she says will “affect me for the rest of my life.”
On May 16, Carpentersville police arrested the juvenile and took Kammrad into custody the following day. Both face felony aggravated-battery charges, each punishable by two to five years in prison, and counts of mob action. Kane County prosecutors have so far declined to attach hate-crime enhancements, saying the investigation remains open and “additional charges are possible.” Kammrad has since been transferred to DuPage County on an unrelated case. The juvenile’s first hearing is scheduled for May 27.
Illinois law allows prosecutors to pursue harsher penalties when an assault is motivated by a victim’s real or perceived sexual orientation, yet advocates say the standard is applied unevenly. The Anti-Defamation League logged a 33 percent rise in anti-LGBTQ hate crimes statewide last year, and 2024 saw the highest number of reports since records began in 1991. “Failing to label obvious bias violence only fuels the next attack,” said Lambda Legal Midwest strategist Maya González.
Grass has launched a GoFundMe that eclipsed its $5k goal within 24 hours and now tops $35k, money she says will cover medical bills and potential legal fees if she pursues civil action. “I don’t want to become a symbol of fear for my cousin or anyone else,” she wrote on the page. “I want this to be a line in the sand that says queer lives are worth defending.” The fundraiser’s momentum underscores how LGBTQ communities are mobilizing ahead of Pride Month, demanding systemic change, not just sympathy, when violence strikes.
The Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office has asked anyone in the restaurant during the 5:15 p.m. assault to come forward. Meanwhile, Grass plans to testify at every court date. “They tried to silence me,” she said, “but I’m still here, and I won’t be quiet about what happened.”
