TEMPE, AZ — It's been just over a week since several seniors were attacked at a Tempe community center, and while some victims have returned to their daily routines, families are calling for escalated charges against the accused attacker.
Patricia Turley, 78, visits Tempe's Escalante Center at least three times a week, where she teaches young people crochet and arts and crafts while finding community among fellow seniors. She said the good days at the center outweigh the bad ones, but last week brought an exception.
"I got hit here," Turley said, pointing to her chest.
Security video shows Derek Kirven entering the senior center after being told to leave earlier that morning for not being a member. He returned a couple of hours later and began attacking people, leading to concussions and broken bones among the victims.
Turley said Kirven swiped at her, hitting her ear and sending her $4,000 hearing aid across the room. The attack also bent her glasses and put pressure on her chest incision from a prior open-heart surgery.
"I got slapped in the ear," Turley said. "I said, 'What in the heck is he doing? He must hate people.'"
Court paperwork states Kirven told police he used racial slurs when referring to victims and admitted to targeting certain races in the room. He said he thought he was denied access to the center because he was Black.
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The attack also targeted Chantell Gutierrez, a 33-year-old server at the Escalante Center who was hired through a group that employs people with developmental disabilities. Her mother, Jesika Gutierrez, watched the security footage with particular concern for her daughter.
"The way she sees the world is very, very pure. So this kind of violence that was committed on her is very hard for her," Jesika Gutierrez said.
Part of Chantell's disability includes vulnerability to head injuries that could trigger seizures or worse if she's struck. Despite the attack, Chantell wanted to return to work the next day, though her family has been monitoring her health.
Jesika Gutierrez is now calling on prosecutors to escalate the charges to include hate crimes.
"The thing that makes me feel that this should be classified as a hate crime is he looked directly at my daughter, and she told me, 'he looked at me,' and then he attacked. So what I believe happened in those milliseconds in his head, he was making the decision as to what race she was," she said.
Both Turley and Chantell returned to the center the day after the attack. Both families have called for increased security at the facility.
Police joined the seniors in the days following the incident, but only temporarily. The center maintains its own security staff.
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