Teona Brown, 19, has pled guilty Thursday, Aug. 4, to first degree assault charges and a hate crime charge in connection with the beating of transgender woman Chrissy Polis last April in Towson,
Chrissy Polis
Md. The attack was captured on video by a McDonald’s employee — who filmed the assault rather than step in and try to stop it — last April. The video went viral online and was used, along with new footage from a surveillance camera, in court hearings this week. CBS Baltimore has this report on the plea.
Conviction on a first degree assault charge carries a maximum sentence of 25 years, and a hate crime conviction could add another 10 years. Because Brown pled guilty to the attack, prosecutors are recommending that the judge sentence her to five years in prison. A sentencing hearing has been set for next month.
Polis was present in court on Thursday, but told reporters she was nervous about being there and had no comment. “I just want to lay low and keep my life as normal as possible,” she said.
A second person charged in the attack was 14 at the time and has been charged with assault as a juvenile. Because she is a minor, her identity has not been released.
Below is a video of a news report aired on the Washington, D.C., Fox news program when the attack happened. It includes video of the attack and, as State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger said this week, “The severity of the beating is much easier to understand when you see a video. They say a picture’s worth a thousand words. Well, a video’s worth a million.”
Justice at last. Five years is fine but because far too many of us are losing our lives because of trans phobia, 10 years is minimum to send a message that this violence needs to stop..NOW!!!
If anybody was going to be attacked for anything, why not those half-naked teenagers with their butts hanging out? Looks like they hadn’t finished getting dressed. Maybe they were embarrassed to be “shown up” by Ms. Polis, who was dressed like any normal human being. Where did these young women get their attitudes toward people who are different from them? Do they also attack every Caucasian or Asian person they encounter? Do they attack people whose butts are covered with clothing? Those kids are out of control, and somebody LET them grow that way. Shame on those girls, and shame on the people who supposedly “raised” them.
5 years? I say if the maximum is 25 years and admitting to a hate crime adds another 10 years, then give her 20 years…!!!
How is cutting a possible 35 year sentence to only 5 years going to send a message to people if they are allowed to plea guilty and only receive a small portion of the sentence…???
Reducing sentences and letting criminals back on the streets is what allowed this kind of behavior to fester in our society. As long as we “wrist-slap” offenders, the law-obeying citizens will always be victims…
What she did was horrible, but I feel 5 years is long enough to give her time to think about it without taking her whole life away.
wow… this makes me so angry. the people who stood by without doing anything should go to jail too. at least call 911. and i agree, 5 years is nothing for this. i can’t believe that poor woman had a seizure