A juvenile couple from Georgia was sentenced to a combined 35 years in prison after they crashed a young black child’s party and yelled racial slurs on everyone, the Daily Mail reports.
Kayla Rae Norton, 25 years old, and Jose Ismael Torres, 26 years old, were crying their hearts out as they were about to spend the next fifteen to twenty years inside prison.
Superior Court Judge William McClain gave Torres twenty years, with thirteen of them to be served in prison. Norton received fifteen years, with six to serve in prison, according to the Daily Mail.
Norton and Torres were part of a larger group who drove trucks while waving confederate flags in Douglasville, Georgia. The group decided to crash a boy’s eighth birthday party in 2015, antagonizing and intimidating guests.
After they have left the party, the two eventually went to Wal-Mart and continued their racist ruckus. Norton immediately “expressed regret for her actions” as one of the party’s guests forgave her for what she had done. She and Torres were told, “Life is too short for hate.”
The couple were reportedly members of a group called “Respect the Flag.” They drove around and yelled at both adults and children that they only had one mission in this world, and that is to kill the black people.
Norton and Torres have three children. Norton said, “I do accept responsibility for what I’ve done. What happened to you is absolutely awful. From mother to mother, I cannot imagine having to explain what that word means.”
Norton added, “The worst decision I've ever made in my life was to not walk away when I had the chance.”
Torres worked as a plumber and occasionally volunteered as a football coach. Norton didn’t do anything except harass other people of color.
Hyesha Bryant said that she forgave the couple for their actions. She reaffirmed them that she held no grudges or hate in her heart.
Bryant, one of the party’s guests, said, “I never thought this would be something I'd have to endure in 2017. As adults and parents, we have to instill in our children the values of right and wrong. That moment you had to choose to leave, you stayed.”
Judge McClain reminded the couple that their racist and offensive actions happened less than a month after Dylann Roof’s shooting at a historically black church, where nine African American people were killed. Roof, who’s 22 years old, was sentenced to death penalty.
