Four young people from Yonkers are going to prison for their roles in the brutal beating of a man on the Lower East Side in 2010. The incident happened following a night of drinking on Ludlow Street; the beatdown occurred at Essex and Rivington streets and was caught on videotape.
In Jauuary, Andrew McCray, Martrell Terrell, Shadia Brackman and Christopher Montanez were convicted on gang assault and assault charges. Last week, they were sentenced to lengthy prison terms. Terrell and McCray got 15 years; Montanez faces 8 years; Brackman was sentenced to five years.
The victim, Kyam Washington, suffers permanent hearing loss in one ear due to the beating. Defense lawyers said their clients were provoked after Washington allegedly stole a piece of jewelry from McCray. According to the Daily News, Brackman’s attorney, Norman Williams, said, “It’s unfair for a bunch of kids that may have gone a little bit too far to be facing unbelievable amounts of jail time for assaulting a guy who is a bad guy and was in the streets with bad intentions.” The defense wanted to bring up Washington’s prior arrest history, but the jury was not allowed to hear about his background.
Wonderful! May these 4 brutal savages suffer in prison! Justice has been done!
I think what they did is horrible, I don’t care if the guy started it, but I don’t know if serving 15 years is the answer, I’m not sure what is, but I wish it was something productive this won’t right the wrong and it won’t stop anyone else from doing the same thing either
But it will keep these violent guys off the streets, and certainly send a message that vicious attacks will be rewarded withs serious prison sentences. So what would be your choice – have them do community service or something? Your weak kind of approach only leads to more of this kind of behavior. Zero tolerance has always worked well in reducing crime in NYC. Remember Mayor Guilani?
Correction: a prior version of this article incorrectly reported
that Kyam Washington’s rap sheet includes a rape conviction. In fact,
Mr. Washington was never charged with or convicted of rape. The Daily
News regrets the error.