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Suspect Wiggles Out of Hate Crime Charge Because Victim Can’t Remember Brutal Attack

A Washington man won’t face hate crime charges in the brutal attack that left a Black man so injured, he suffered a traumatic brain injury and doesn’t remember anything about the assault.

According to KOMO News, 18-year-old Julian Tuimauga accepted a plea deal that spares him from being charged with a federal hate crime for his racially motivated attack on 26-year-old DaShawn Horne in January.

Julian Tuimauga

Thanks to a plea deal, Julian Tuimauga (left) won’t face hate crime charges in the brutal beating of DaShawn Horne. (Images courtesy of KOMO News / Horne family)

Horne was left fighting for his life after Tuimauga attacked him with a baseball bat and used “racially charged words and threats” after learning the Black man had spent the night with his sister. According to charging papers, a witness claimed Tuimauga shouted, “This is what happens when you bring black people around here,” before striking the victim in the head several times, leaving him bloodied and unconscious in the driveway.

Horne doesn’t remember the attack and has not been told about it or seen footage of it, KOMO News reported. Prosecutors said the plea deal was meant to spare the victim from having to testify at multiple trials.

“I’m not sure when I will let him know what happened,” said Horne’s mother, LaDonna Horne. “He is starting to ask questions.”

She added that her son is making a full recovery and has been walking, talking dancing and even lip syncing. Horne said she’s satisfied with the plea deal.

“I hope that he gets whatever he needs to be behind bars at this point, you know,” she said of her son’s attacker. “… Dashawn has been through a lot and the family has been through a lot.”

Tuimauga has pleaded guilty to first degree assault and could spend five years behind bars for it, according to the station. He has also pleaded guilty to malicious harassment and accepted a “deadly weapon enhancement” that requires him to serve two additional years.

Prosecutors are pushing for the maximum recommendation 160 months in prison and three years of probation after his release from jail. Tuimauga is set to be sentenced on September 21

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