Steven Pomie was sentenced to 25 years in prison yesterday for beating Dwan Prince after the victim allegedly flirted with him on the street. Prince's punishment for flirting? Brain damage and partial paralysis.
According to the New York Times, “Mr. Prince sustained a blood clot the size of a soda can on his brain and was in and out of a coma for several weeks, a doctor testified at the trial. Today, his speech is severely impaired, he has memory loss and other cognitive problems, and he spends most of his time in a wheelchair.”
Prince suffers from AIDS and only two weeks ago tried to take his own life. Pomie, who returned after the beating to give the victim one last kick in the head, continues to deny that the assault ever took place.
Prince and his mother Valerie Prinez know the truth. Prinez: “He took my son's memory. He took my son's brain. He took my son's limbs. But he could not ever take my son's soul.”
Under hate crimes laws, Pomie must serve at least half of his sentence. Here's hoping he is forced to serve the second half as well, as Prince struggles to “do the best I can to live my life.”