Jason Gardner first recounted the attack to police as he lay on a hospital bed shortly after midnight on June 6, 2017:
The 15-year-old was in the creek behind the Cedarwood Trails mobile home park in New Haven, Indiana, where he’d lived since February. He was walking across the mud, calling out his girlfriend’s name, when something hard hit the back of his head. He stumbled, and as he fell he turned and swung wildly, connecting with a cheek. But more blows rained down. Kicks struck his body as he curled up on the dirt. He couldn’t see their faces in the darkness. Only their voices were clear.
“Nigger!”
“You don’t belong here!”
“Go back to Africa where you came from!”
