Jose Torres, left, weeps in his seat while during his sentencing at the Douglas County Courthouse in Douglasville, Ga., Monday, Feb. 27, 2017. Superior Court Judge William McClain sentenced Torres and Kayla Rae Norton, right, to lengthy prison terms Monday for their role in the disruption of a black child’s birthday party with Confederate flags, racial slurs and armed threats. (Henry P. Taylor/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
Kayla Norton yells “I love you guys!” to the crowd that gathered to support her at her sentencing at the Douglas County Courthouse in Douglasville, Ga., Monday, Feb. 27, 2017. Superior Court Judge William McClain sentenced Norton and Jose Torres to lengthy prison terms Monday for their role in the disruption of a black child’s birthday party with Confederate flags, racial slurs and armed threats. (Henry P. Taylor/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. – A Georgia judge sentenced two people to lengthy prison terms Monday for their role in the disruption of a black child’s birthday party with Confederate flags, racial slurs and armed threats.
Jose Ismael Torres, 26, will spend 13 years in prison; Kayla Rae Norton, 25, is to serve six years, Atlanta news outlets report.
Both wept as the sentences were handed down in Douglas County, west of Atlanta.
“Their actions were motivated by racial hatred,” said Superior Court Judge William McClain.
The two are the last of 15 people charged in the confrontation, which took place in Douglasville in July 2015. Only four were charged with felonies. The other two pleaded guilty and are serving shorter prison terms.