Associated Press
SEATTLE — A Seattle man was sentenced Friday to 15 years in prison for the beating death of another man during a Mardi Gras riot one year ago in the city’s Pioneer Square district.
Jerell Thomas, 18, was convicted of second-degree murder in the death of Kristopher Kime, 20.
Video footage of the riot showed Thomas punching Kime several times, knocking him to the ground. Witnesses said Kime was trying to help a frightened woman who had fallen in the melee. He died of massive head injuries.
King County Superior Court Judge Anthony Wartnik imposed a sentence that was near the low end of the sentencing range. Prosecutors had requested the maximum 20-year term.
The case will be appealed, said Thomas’ attorney, Jeffrey Cohen. He said Thomas should have been charged with manslaughter, a lesser offense defined as recklessly causing the death of another person.
Kirsten Kime, sister of the slain man, broke down in tears repeatedly as she spoke to the judge during the 2 1/2-hour sentencing hearing.
"For someone to have as much anger as he does against people that he doesn’t even know, someone like my brother who is so kind and loving to everybody that ever came in contact with him, doesn’t deserve to be out on the street," she said.
Thomas wiped away a tear as his mother appealed to the judge for mercy.
"The pain is still unbearable," said Theresa Thomas, his mother. "I can’t imagine what it feels like for the Kime family, and I would like to say that I am very sorry to the other people that was also hurt."
Thomas’ aunt, Bernita McKinnon, said imprisoning Thomas for a long time won’t change what happened.
"I only want you to know that Jerell is not a throwaway child. He has unconditional love from his family, and I know that he can love, and I know that we will be there for him," she said.
An estimated 4,000 revelers had packed the city’s historic downtown Pioneer Square neighborhood to celebrate Mardi Gras when alcohol-fueled fights broke out. Groups of young men, some wielding brass knuckles or skateboards, attacked people at random. About 70 people were injured.
Many of the attacks appeared to be racially motivated; several witnesses reported hearing racial slurs.
Thomas is black. Kime and two other young men Thomas was convicted of assaulting that night were white.
Cohen, Thomas’ attorney, said he requested an exceptionally short sentence because the facts of the case were closer to manslaughter than second-degree murder.
Cohen said second-degree murder is intentional murder without premeditation; committing a felony that causes a death; or intentionally committing an assault that is elevated to a felony because of resulting injuries, then elevated again to murder because of a resulting death.
Associated Press
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