The Manhattan Supreme Court sentenced a Manhattan, New York, resident to 25 years in prison Wednesday for an attack on a French tourist.
The Manhattan Court sentenced Khalief Young, 28, to 25 years in prison followed by five years of post-release probation after he attacked 27-year-old French tourist Gabriel Bascou, the New York Post reported. Young had been charged with one count of attempted second-degree murder and one count of first-degree assault, according to a video of the sentencing.
“This unconscionable attack nearly took the life of a young man visiting Manhattan for what should have been a joyous occasion,” District Attorney Alving Bragg stated, PIX11 noted. “Everyone deserves to walk the streets of New York City safely and I commend the immense strength of this victim.”
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro lamented about the memories that must haunt the victim in an ambush that he referred to as an “unprovoked vicious attack on him and basically a sneak attack coming up from behind,” according to the New York Post. (RELATED: Teen Allegedly Shoots Girl In The Head After She Refused To Pick Weed Off Floor: Police)
NYC man who randomly slashed French tourist’s throat hit with hefty prison sentence https://t.co/DvEntE2Jx2 pic.twitter.com/6yf5ttN8aP
— New York Post (@nypost) January 11, 2023
Young ran up to and slashed Bascou with a knife while he and his girlfriend walked out of a Harlem IHOP at around 11 a.m. on Feb. 15, according to an earlier report from the New York Post. Young didn’t steal anything, Bascou said on social media, calling the attack “a gratuitous blow of absolute violence.” He had reportedly just arrived in New York to visit his girlfriend the night before, according to the outlet.
Medical examiners treated Bascou for a 6-inch laceration and conducted a tracheotomy, hospitalizing the tourist for 10 days before he was eventually flown home with the assistance of a medical care team, PIX11 noted. Young fled the scene following the incident, hiding in his grandmother’s house, where police arrested him three days later, according to the outlet.