BILLINGS — A Billings teen woke up from a month-long coma this week after being found beaten and unconscious by Billings police at the beginning of May.
According to Billings police, 18-year-old Brent C'Bearing was found unconscious near Second Avenue North and North Ninth Street near MetraPark in the early morning hours of May 8.
C'Bearing's mother, Londa Means, said that the last month has been a nightmare and changed her views as a parent.
"As a parent, I'm not going to lie. I'm angry, I'm frustrated, and I'm hurt," Means said. "I feel like I can't let my kids go anywhere."
According to Means, she dropped C'Bearing off at the Berry's Cherries Carnival on the evening of May 7.
At about midnight, police contacted her, saying that they found him badly beaten and unconscious and that he had been taken to the ICU.
C'Bearing's 12-year-old sister, Isabel Buckman, was one of the last to see him that night. She was at the carnival and watched her brother get into a vehicle with a group of teens she didn't recognize.
"It was just really, really hard," Buckman said. "Especially hearing that he's in the ICU. It made me feel like it was my fault for letting him go."
The next time Buckman saw her brother, he was in a coma.
"The hardest part for me is thinking about, like, right when he left," Buckman said. "Finding out that he was found somewhere almost beat to death. Right when he left, he was like, 'I love you,' and he hugged me for five minutes before leaving with them boys."
Billings police are investigating the incident, Lt. Matt Lennick said in an email Wednesday, but he had no other details. C'Bearing woke up from his coma on Monday but still has a long road to recovery.
"He's still trying to adjust to talking and everything, but that was exciting just to know that he woke up," Means said.
Means is glad her son is recovering but said Billings has become a far too dangerous place.
"I just want every kid around here to be safe," Means said. "All of these kids are getting kind of wild right now. It kind of scares me that these kids are not thinking about the families that they are hurting."
And she's hopeful for answers and that maybe the person or people that assaulted her son will be arrested. Even more so, she's hoping for change in her city.
"A lot of things have been going on throughout Billings, and a lot of it has been because of these younger kids," Means said. "It's hurtful that they don't think about the families that they are hurting."
