Crime and Courts

NY Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison Over Hate Crime Stabbing of Black Teenager

He used racial slurs as he stabbed the 17-year-old girl multiple times at a North Highland Avenue apartment complex in Ossining where he lived; the two had never met each other before

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A Westchester County man will spend 15 years in prison for a violent hate crime committed against a teenage girl who was visiting her family.

Robert McCallion admitted in September to stabbing a 17-year-old Black girl he didn't know who happened to be visiting relatives in the apartment complex where he lived last year, officials say. On Tuesday, the 36-year-old faced a judge to learn his punishment, while the victim's father addressed the court to describe what the injuries his daughter suffered.

"Her face was slashed. She sustained three deep slashes on the left and right side of her face. She had multiple stab wounds in the back and her chest. And her eyes were bloodied and completely shut from thumbs that were trying to gouge them out," said Osita Duboulay.

The father spoke about the heart-wrenching condition of his daughter immediately after the attack, saying that surgeons weren't sure if she would ever be able to see again. Her mother described McCallion as pure evil.

The girl was walking to visit family in March 2020 at the North Highland Avenue apartment complex in Ossining when McCallion beat her, yelling racial slurs during the attack. The victim was a stranger to him at the time.

He pleaded guilty to 14 felony charges, including attempted murder as a hate crime.

"I sincerely apologize for the events that happened that day. There's no excuse for it. I was mentally unstable and off my mental medication, but that's still no excuse," McCallion said in court. "There's nothing I can say that is going to take what happened back that day."

McCallion was arrested after he was found in the parking lot of the apartment complex with blood on his hands and clothes. The knife he used to stab the victim was also found at the scene.

After his arrest, police found assault weapons as well as Nazi and white supremacist paraphernalia in his home, including a knife with a swastika on it and a Confederate flag. Two days after his arrest, McCallion also attacked a nurse practitioner who was there to treat him in the hospital, fracturing her nose.

"Hate crimes like this are not only acts of violence against an individual victim," said Mimi Rocah, the Westchester County District Attorney. "They're crimes against an entire community and groups of people who are left feeling unsafe and vulnerable after attacks like this one."

The teenage victim did not come to court on Tuesday, but did write a letter that was written by her father.

"I survived, I felt the pain of an unsolicited knife and fought back. I gave myself credit for my resilience. Through hardships comes strength so I can achieve happiness and I can love and care for myself the way that I need to," the letter read. "I hold my head up high. I will never give up. I'm here and I'm staying."

Following the 15-year sentence, the judge ordered that McCallion have five years of supervised release.

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