A 19-year-old gay woman badly beaten at a Carpentersville McDonald’s last week by two teens charged with aggravated battery says she was shocked they used a slur about her sexual orientation before allegedly attacking her.

Kady Grass, who lives in Wisconsin, was visiting her hometown to see her grandparents and attend her cousin’s choir concert May 13 when the incident occurred about 8:20 p.m. at the 1660 S. Kennedy Drive restaurant.

She and her 13-year-old cousin were dining when she left their table to go to the restroom, she said. When she was returning, she passed a table at which three teens were seated. One of them called her a gay slur, prompting her to call them “wannabe gangsters” under her breath, Grass said.

After she went back to her table, the teen who voiced the derogatory term started yelling at her and she responded that she did not like that he used a slur about her, Grass said. When the teen said they should take things outside, she left the building but they did not follow, she said.

Upon her return, the oldest of the three — a man later identified as John Z. Kammrad, 19, of the 900 block of Hillcrest Road in Elgin — allegedly told her she wasn’t so tough because she was a woman, Grass said.

“I told him, of course I’m a woman. I’m a lesbian,” said Grass, who is 5-foot-5.

The first teen, later identified as a 17-year-old minor, then allegedly told her they didn’t need a gun to kill someone and he and Kammrad approached her, Grass said. When she flicked her wrist to get them to move out of her personal space, she said, the pair reportedly punched her in the face, struck her back, and kicked her arms and face when she was on the ground, she said. She was briefly left unconscious, she said.

A McDonald’s manager who tried to break up the altercation was also struck, Grass said.

Two young women took her wallet and the phones belonging to her and her cousin, she said, but all of the items were recovered not far from the restaurant.

Grass was taken to Advocate Sherman Hospital in Elgin to be treated for her injuries.

The two suspects — the 17-year-old turned himself in to police Friday and Kammrad was arrested Saturday — have been charged with aggravated battery causing bodily harm, aggravated battery in a public place and mob action/use of force or violence, all felonies.

Kammrad is being held in the Kane County jail pending his next court appearance.

“I want this to be something for people to remember. I want to be the reason for change,” said Grass, who has been unable to work as a Dairy Queen shift manager because of her injuries. “I don’t want this to happen to someone else, and I don’t want people to be afraid to stand up for themselves.”

Grass also said she was initially upset the pair weren’t charged with a hate crime in addition to the other charges, but says she understands more counts could be forthcoming.

Nicholas Jenz, spokesman for the Kane County state’s attorney’s office, said the incident remains under review.

“The case is still in its early stages so the current charges may not be the final charges,” Jenz said. “The state’s attorney’s office may still add new charges to the indictment.”

Grass said she’s dismayed this could have happened in the town where she lived until just five years ago.

“I was never made fun of for the way I am, while I may have been treated differently,” she said. “Still, I came out when I lived here in Carpentersville. So this blew my mind.”

But it also reinforced her decision to pursue her dream, she said.

“I’ve always wanted to be a cop,” Grass said. “After this, I realized that life is short and not to push the things that you want to do away.”

Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.