Westchester County Man Sentenced To 15 Years For Hate Crime Stabbing Of Teenage Girl
OSSINING, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A Westchester County man has been sentenced to 15 years for targeting a Black teenager in a vicious, racially motivated hate crime.
As CBS2's Tony Aiello reports, the victim's injuries were severe, but her spirit was not broken, as evidenced by a letter she wrote for Tuesday's sentencing.
"That night, she demonstrated incredible strength and courage," said Osita Duboulay, the victim's father.
He ignored the defendant during his comments, saying nothing about 36-year-old Robert McCallion.
Twenty months ago, in an Ossining parking lot, McCallion viciously attacked Duboulay's teenage daughter, stabbing her repeatedly while yelling racial slurs, including the N word.
READ MORE: 'Hatred Is Not Welcome Here': Ossining Dealing With Attack On 17-Year-Old Black Female
Tuesday, the victim was not in court, but her father read a letter she wrote -- words of strength and grace.
"I hold my head up high. I will never give up. I am here, and I am staying. I live," Duboulay said.
After the attack, cops found illegal weapons in the apartment McCallion shared with his father and items decorated with swastikas and the confederate flag.
"The evidence supports he targeted this young teenager based on her race. He told her he hoped she would die," prosecutor Laura Murphy said.
District Attorney Mimi Rocah says McCallion essentially followed a "path to radicalization" -- hatred fueled by white supremacy.
"This is someone who was radicalized, who was influenced by outside rhetoric and forces ... [He was] looking at white nationalist-type of organizations," Rocah said.
McCallion apologized for the hate crime, saying he was off medication and mentally unstable at the time.
"I have no hate in my heart and will use my time in prison to do the best I can to atone for what happened," he said.
McCallion pleaded guilty in October to more than a dozen felony counts, including attacking a nurse at county jail shortly after his arrest.
"You committed unspeakable violence, with unspeakable cruelty," Judge Barry Warhit said.
The judge sentenced McCallion to the agreed-upon 15 years, ending the prosecution of one of the most vicious hate crimes in Westchester history.