What to Know
- The Dec. 7 attack was captured on video and posted to Facebook
- The victim collapsed and hit head his on the pavement after he was punched
- In the background, a teenage cameraman was heard laughing
The young man caught on camera sucker-punching a man on a New Jersey street corner last year faces three years in a juvenile detention facility under plea deal announced Wednesday.
Kristian Gonzalez, 18, pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree aggravated assault, waiving his right to trial in the Dec. 7 attack that was caught on camera and posted to Facebook.
The suspect, who was 17 when the video was shot, admitted the so-called "sucker punch" was not an act of self-defense.
In factual review, his attorney asked, "Did you, in fact, punch that gentleman in the face?"
Gonzalez simply answered, "Yes."
Footage of the attack posted to Facebook was later deleted. Video shows the suspect approaching a man at the corner of Rosa Parks Boulevard and Van Houten Street. A girl can be heard off-camera shouting, "No, don't hit him!"
The suspect then leans down to talk to the much shorter man. He looks at the person holding the camera and says, "Knock him out, homie? Just knock him out?"
The teenage cameraman laughs and replies, "Knock him out! Knock him out!" The suspect then winds up and punches the man in the face.
The victim collapses, hitting his head on the roadway as the suspect walks out of the camera frame. The teen holding the camera can be heard laughing.
