Photo: Oklahoma Department of Corrections
An Oklahoma man is getting prison time for brutally attacking a Black man and his white friend last year, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday (July 25). Officials said 28-year-old Devan Wayne Johnson, of Oklahoma City, was sentenced to 120 months in prison for a racially-motivated attack on Jarric Carolina in June 2019.
Johnson and Brandon Wayne Killian, both white, are accused of punching, kicking, and stomping, on Carolina in the parking lot of Brickhouse Saloon in Shawnee, per KOSU. Authorities said they also spat on the Black man and shouted racial slurs after beating him into unconsciousness.
Carolina ended up hospitalized with serious injuries that left him with memory issues and trouble walking, according to reporters. Johnson and Killian also attacked Carolina's white friend, Monty Whittet, but he declined medical assistance at the scene.
In January 2022, a federal grand jury in the Western District of Oklahoma indicted Johnson and Killian for attacking Carolina and Whittet, according to the DOJ. Both men pleaded guilty to committing a hate crime in late September 2022. They also admitted to targeting Carolina because he was Black during plea hearings, officials said in a separate release.
Following his prison sentence, Johnson will spend three years under supervised release. He'll also have to pay $68,186.64 in restitution. Killian's sentencing is scheduled for August 14.
“Heinous, hate-fueled crimes such as these have no place in our state or country,” U.S. Attorney Robert Troester for the Western District of Oklahoma said in the Tuesday release. “This is the first case sentenced in the Western District of Oklahoma under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, and we hope today’s proceedings send a strong message. We will continue to aggressively combat all hate crimes and seek justice for those victimized by hate."
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