Three people who
assaulted six men outside a gay pride festival in San
Diego were sentenced to prison Monday, just days after
pleading guilty to the July attacks. James Allen
Carroll and Kenneth James Lincoln, both 24, and
18-year-old Lyonn Taz Tatum were accused along with a
15-year-old boy of yelling antigay slurs as they
struck the men with a baseball bat and a knife. One
victim was hospitalized with a broken skull.
Carroll, who wielded the bat, was sentenced by
superior court judge Frederick Maguire to 11 years in
prison for attempted murder and assault by means of
force likely to produce great bodily injury. Tatum, who
admitted striking with the knife, will serve eight years for
assault with a deadly weapon and assault by means of
force likely to produce great bodily injury.
Lincoln was sentenced to 32 months for helping
shave Tatum's head after the attacks in an effort to
conceal his identity.
Prosecutor Oscar Garcia said he was pleased with
the plea deals. "I would hope that not just people in
the gay community but people of all colors feel
safer," Garcia said.
The teenager admitted to taking part in the
attacks in a juvenile court hearing last week. He
faces up to 13 years on three counts of assault with a
deadly weapon and hate-crime charges.
The attacks took place as the victims were
leaving the nighttime events capping San Diego's 32nd
annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride
Festival in Balboa Park, just north of downtown. The most
seriously injured victim, Oscar Foster, was hit in the
head and upper body 10 to 12 times with the aluminum
bat. He recently left the hospital after undergoing
facial reconstructive surgery, Garcia said. (AP)
