BUSHWICK — The second man accused of attacking a transgender woman on the street in 2014, leaving her with permanent brain injuries, was convicted Friday, the Brooklyn District Attorney said.
A jury found Mashawn Sonds, 26, of Brownsville, guilty of first degree assault as a hate crime and he now faces up to 25 years in prison and will be sentenced on Jan. 13, prosecutors said.
"This was a cowardly, unprovoked and senseless attack on a person who was targeted merely because of her appearance," Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson said. "Today’s conviction demonstrates that we will simply not tolerate bias-motivated violence anywhere in Brooklyn."
Kimy Hartman, 29, a transgender woman, was walking with a male friend on Oct. 12, 2014 on Bushwick Avenue near Halsey Street when she was approached by a group of men at around 11:20 p.m. who yelled gay slurs at the pair, according to the DA.
“We don’t want fa---t on our block,” prosecutors said the men yelled.
Sonds, who was in the group, then picked up a piece of plexiglass and swung it at Hartman, who was knocked unconscious and began seizing and bleeding from her head.
Earlier this week, Tyquan Eversley, 18, plead guilty to his involvement in the attack and was sentenced to 16 months to four years, the Daily News reported.
Hartman had to have a piece of her skull removed to relieve pressure from the swelling in her brain and now has a deformed head that will need a subsequent operation, said Kate Barnhart, Hartman's caseworker and the director of New Alternatives for LGBT Homeless Youth.
"She has trouble with her short-term memory, she has some pretty severe mood swings, she has trouble finding the words she wants," Barnhart said. "It's going have a lifelong effect on her."
She first met Hartman, who came to New York City from Utah hoping to find acceptance ten years ago when she came through New Alternatives shelter, Barnhart said.
"She came to New York looking for, ironically, safety," she said. "Like many LGBT youth she quickly found that she was homeless."
Barnhart said that Hartman, who lives in Bushwick with her mother-in-law, used to earn a living stitching clothing and selling it to local boutiques, but can no longer sew because the concentration it requires hurts her head.
"It makes absolutely no difference in my life. It makes no freaking difference. It doesn't stop anything," said Hartman. "People who hate fa---t [don't] stop [hating them] because [they're] going to prison."
After the conviction Friday, Sonds's defense lawyer David Walensky vowed he would appeal the jury's decision.
"[My client is] adamant that he wasn't the person," said Walensky.
"[Hartman] was a victim, regardless of who did this," the lawyer said. "Everyone has the right to walk down the street without being bothered."
