Woman Who Tortured Disabled Man On Facebook Live Gets Probation, Brittany Covington Already Served A Year
A Chicago woman who tortured a developmentally disabled man and broadcast the crime on Facebook Live has been sentenced to time served, plus probation and a ban from social media, WBBM-TV (Chicago) is reporting.
Brittany Covington, 19, had been behind bars, held without bond at the Cook County Jail, since January. At the time, she and co-defendants Tesfaye Cooper, Jordan Hill, and Tanishia Covington were all arrested and charged with a host of felonies, in one of the most disgusting and shocking crimes of the time period.
Authorities say that the four individuals had taken the victim, a developmentally disabled white man, to an apartment in the city’s west side. There, they taunted and abused him over the course of several hours. They allegedly tied him up, threw him into a corner, and called him racial slurs, accused him of being a Trump supporter, made him drink from a toilet bowl, and at one point, even cut his clothes before punching and kicking him.
What’s worse, the assailants allegedly broadcast the assault on Facebook Live.
While the man was being held captive, his parents began receiving text messages from people claiming to be holding him, authorities said.
When a neighbor heard the man’s screams and cries, she threatened to call the police. The two women allegedly kicked in her door and stole some of her property. Meanwhile, the man managed to escape, running outside in shorts and tattered clothes into the Chicago winter.
Brittany Covington who Live-Streamed Herself and a Trio of Friends Abusing a Mentally… https://t.co/DKZxLis9ar pic.twitter.com/sWBADA0VIP
— Fugitive Watch (@FugitiveWatch) December 9, 2017
The crime drew international outrage, and even then-President Barack Obama, in his last few days in office, responded, calling the assault “despicable.”
On Friday, according to The Chicago Tribune, Brittany pleaded guilty to aggravated battery and intimidation charges. in a plea deal in which kidnapping charges were dropped. Cook County Circuit Judge William Hooks, calling the crime “horrific,” sentenced her to time served, plus four years of probation, a four-year ban on social media, a ban on contact with her co-defendants and the victim, and 200 hours of community service.
Hooks also told Covington that he could have sentenced her to prison, but believed that probation and community service would put her in a better position to get her life back on track. He warned her, however, that violations of her parole conditions will result in being put behind bars again.
“Do not mess this up.”
Covington’s three co-defendants remain behind bars as prosecutors attempt to work out their plea deals.
