Nearly three years after she was attacked in Hell’s Kitchen in a hate crime caught on video, Asian-American Vilma Kari will face her assailant in court as he is sentenced for an assault that shocked the nation. Her family is asking for supporters to attend today’s (Wednesday) court hearing to mark the milestone.
On March 29, 2021, Kari, who is Filipino, was walking along W43rd Street between 8/9th Avenue on her way to church when she was knocked down and stomped on, leaving her with a fractured pelvis, among other injuries.
Her daughter, Elizabeth Kari, said that her mother had been through a “mixture of normalcy” over the last three years of recovery.
“It took over a year and a half for her to walk down the street by herself.” Elizabeth said. “She has an instilled sense of fear. Physically, she’s healed. Mentally, the journey continues. When she leaves the residence, she doesn’t spend time unaccompanied outside.”
In December, Vilma’s assailant Brandon Elliott pleaded guilty in a New York State Supreme Court to one count of Assault in the First Degree as a Hate Crime and one count of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree. He is expected to be sentenced to 15 years in state prison, followed by five years of post-release supervision on Wednesday. Elliott had previously served 16 years for murdering his mother in 2002.
Elizabeth said that she and her mother felt “almost sorry” for Elliott.
“For him to commit the first heinous act on his mother, there’s something wrong. We feel like he’s an individual that’s been failed by the system,” she said. “He has many issues and we don’t know if being angry at him will change that. We just pray that he’ll have the resources to see the wrongs of his actions.”
Since her mother’s…
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