July 12 (UPI) — A woman who reportedly struck a 6-year-old Korean American boy in the neck while yelling the word “China” near an upscale shopping mall in Las Vegas has been arrested and is being held on $3,000 bail.
Shelly Hill is in police custody for battery, hate and bias crime charges, Clark County Detention Center said, according to independent news service AsAmNews Sunday.
A video of Hill yelling at the boy’s family over the Fourth of July weekend as they were strolling near Shops at Crystals on the Strip went viral last week. The boy’s mother, who remains unidentified, but goes by her TikTok handle @uhmmajo, recorded the video.
According to Shops at Crystals, the incident took place at an adjacent property, and not at the mall. Security guards therefore were not aware of the attack because of the location.
“This woman attacked my son. She punched my 6-year-old while yelling racist, anti-Asian things,” the boy’s mother wrote, according to Asian American news service NextShark.
The recording appears to have begun after the alleged attack. The defendant is seen shouting at the family, who remains off-camera, and is seen picking her belongings on the floor. A mall security guard approaches the scene and escorts her, footage shows.
Shops at Crystals said the video showed a scene after the attack. Police were called and medical assistance rendered, the mall said in a statement to UPI.
The boy’s mother told AsAm News that the incident occurred when her husband was walking with the boy, holding his hand.
“I was with my two-year-old daughter pushing her in a stroller. She [Hill] came from behind and punched my son in the neck,” the woman said.
“She was yelling things like ‘I know what you people do. You people eat your children. It’s your fault’.”
The boy’s mother also said her son was emotionally hurt after the incident and that Hill’s arrest is a source of relief.
“I don’t want her near any children. She could have done more damage when she hit my son. Especially while saying racial slurs.”
Stop AAPI Hate, a national coalition and reporting center, said in May about one in five Asian Americans who have experienced hate incidents show symptoms of racial trauma.
