Halloween decoration divides Arizona neighborhood

MESA, Ariz. (NBC, KYMA) - An inflatable dummy wrapped in duct tape and hung upside down in a trash bag is dividing one Arizona neighborhood weeks before Halloween.

Halloween is a big deal in the Windsor Shadow neighborhood.

"I do have 300 kids that do come in specifically to this home that we decorate for," said Francine Arthur, a Mesa resident.

"I have heard that Halloween gets crazy in this neighborhood that we close the streets, even entrances and exits, because it does get really busy here for Halloween," said Valeria Hawthorne, another Mesa resident.

Hawthorne said she moved into the neighborhood last May. It's her first home, and she's excited to decorate it with her three young kids for Halloween.

"I bought this decoration off of Amazon. I think it was like $18 off of Amazon. It is a it represents a dead body, and just in like a plastic bag, as you see in horror movies. I put tape around it to kind of signify like the head, the arms, the feet," Hawthorne shared.

Arthur, who is Hawthorne's neighbor from a few streets over, said she saw that decoration for the first time earlier this week.

"They do have something that's racially offensive that is very inappropriate for any kid or family to see of a body hanging upside down in a garbage bag. It looks like a lynching," Arthur expressed.

Hawthorne doesn't see it that way, saying, "I think it's absurd. Personally, if you just Google what lynching is, you would see a picture of what it actually entails. And a body hanging upside down in a trash bag is not lynching. This represents a dead corpse, lynching is a very serious matter, and this this is not it."

Arthur said she's afraid if the decoration isn't taken down by Halloween, families won't return to trick-or-treat.

"I don't know if they'll feel safe again to come here, saying that that message is sending you not welcome here," Arthur remarked.

Hawthorne said she wishes Arthur would have come to her first to express her opinions, but she said she's still not taking the decoration down.

"As it stands, no, I'm not. I don't see it being offensive, and I'm not done decorating. I would have probably taken the time to think about it and maybe make some adjustments. And that wouldn't have been an issue for me. I could have laid the body on the floor if she had come to me," Hawthorne explained.