A 47-year-old Manhattan mother is fighting for her life at Harlem Hospital, two days after she was struck by a shopping cart that was thrown from four stories above her at East River Plaza Mall in East Harlem.
The 12-year-old boys accused of throwing the shopping cart were arrested Tuesday and charged with juvenile assault.
According to police, the boys were playing around on the fourth-floor walkway of the mall when they decided to push shopping carts against the railing. One of the carts fell four stories down on top of Marion Salmon Hedges, who had been at the mall to shop for Halloween candy with her teenage son.
Hedges remains in critical condition.
"That's somebody's mother, someone's daughter," said shopper Monique Johnson. "Whoever did it should be prosecuted to the fullest extent."
Hedges, a married real estate agent who lives on the Upper West Side with her two teenage children, is known for her charity work: She is a board member of the Samuel M. Isaacs community center and has a special interest in the youth programs.
Director Wanda Wooton told NBC New York the situation was "unbelievable," "especially because it happened to Marion who is so giving and wonderful."
"It's horrendous," said Angelica Gonzalez, a shopper whose friend saw the aftermath of the incident. "It's horrible what these kids do."
The pranksters were charged in family court with assault as juveniles. Both live in East Harlem and neither of their families had a statement for NBC New York.
