Robert Cantu, who is half Hispanic, told 10TV's Cara Connelly that the alleged attack occurred in broad daylight.  He said the boys were shouting racial slurs at him and a friend, who is African-American.

"The next thing I know, those kids jump(ed) out of the truck with a noose and (said), 'Get the black kid,'" Cantu said.  "I didn't know what was going on until they pushed me down and put the noose on me."

SLIDESHOW: Images From Report

Cantu said that his friend ran away but he was dragged around the lot.  Photographs that were taken after the alleged attack showed scrapes and bruises on his shoulders.

According to Cantu, the teens told him they were taking him to the town square to hang him before a bystander rescued him.

"The fact that (Robert) is Hispanic and that was the whole reason for the hanging - these were people he never knew, never met," said Marcie Cantu, the boy's mother.

After months of investigating, Knox County prosecutors filed charges against an 18-year-old.  10TV News obtained a copy of the charges through a public records request that included aggravated menacing and ethnic intimidation, Connelly reported.

Marcie Cantu said she wonders why the three others who were allegedly involved were not charged.

"They should have been charged with attempted murder because that was their intent to hang him to death at the park," Marcie Cantu said.

The Cantus are hoping for justice but said that they are still too frightened to stay in Mount Vernon.  They are planning to move, Connelly reported.

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