By Martha Kang

SEATTLE (Komo News) — Just one day before Dawit Alemu, an immigrant from Ethiopia, was set to graduate from Seattle Central Community College, he was beaten unconscious by a group of men outside his home.

Prosecutors say Alemu, 25, sustained brain damage and may never recover his sight.

One of the men accused of the assault, Justin L. Phillips, faced a judge on Friday. But before King County Judge Michael Fox handed down his sentence, he wanted to know why the men had attacked.

“What was the motivating fact? Was there anything?” he asked. “Is there something about Mr. Alemu? Is it the fact that he’s of African descent? Is it the fact that he was at the wrong place at the wrong time?”

Phillips, 20, had no excuses in court.

“This was a senseless act of violence,” he said. “I had no right to do the things I did. I was under the influence of alcohol, and that’s no excuse. I take full responsibility for my actions.”

Reiterating the lack of provocation on the victim’s part, the judge sentenced Phillips to 10 years and forbid him from having contact with Alemu and his family members.

According to the statement of probable cause, a group of men jumped Alemu outside his home near 13th Avenue South and South Holgate Street in broad daylight just one day before his college graduation. A witness managed to take photographs of the incident.

Witnesses told detectives Alemu was walking when the men began following him. Alemu tried to elude the men by running around a parked car, witnesses said, but one of the men tripped him, knocking him to the ground.

All four men then began punching and kicking the victim even after he lost consciousness, investigators said. Two of the men – Phillips and Fisher – were seen digging through the victim’s pockets and taking his belongings before the group fled.

Both Fisher and Phillips were found near the scene of the beating and arrested. Speed was identified in photographs and arrested at a later time.

Police said it appears the victim did not know his attackers. A witness reported having seen a group of men drinking at Beacon Hill Playfield prior to the incident — a claim corroborated by Phillips’ admission of being a “violent drunk.”

Alemu never regained consciousness after the attack. He was taken to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries. He has been in stable condition since early July, but nursing staff told detectives Alemu had a tear in the brain, an injury similar to shaken baby syndrome.

In court on Friday, Alemu’s mother, with the help of a translator, lamented over her son’s condition.

“He was a very good student he was a good worker. He was working and studying,” she said.

Two other men are accused of the June beating. Kenneth Fischer, 19, and Jaynus Speed, 22, have both been charged with first-degree assault and first-degree attempted robbery.

Fischer and Speed are due in court on Sept. 21 for a pretrial hearing. A fourth suspect has not been arrested.