Man gets 2 years' prison and a judge's scorn

Kevin D. Young got a tongue-lashing as well as a two-year prison sentence Wednesday after pleading guilty to domestic assault.

"You are a brutal person," Ramsey County District Judge Margaret Marrinan told him. "I fully expect to see you back here again."

According to the charges, Young, 37, punched his girlfriend in the back of the head June 22, picking that spot because it wouldn't leave a visible mark. The next day, she suffered a blood clot and stroke. She was on life support and in a coma for two weeks.

Now, more than seven months after the incident, she can walk without assistance but suffers from memory and speech problems. She can no longer care for her children. She is being cared for by her mother in southern Minnesota.

Still, Young's attorney, David Paulzine, said the victim doesn't agree with the plea bargain; she believes Young shouldn't have been prosecuted at all.

Paulzine said the victim said she had made up the allegations because her mother threatened to not take care of her anymore.

Young pleaded guilty, Paulzine said, to avoid facing the more serious charge of first-degree assault.

Marrinan did not accept Young' plea until Wednesday, telling Paulzine and prosecutor Juan Hoyos before the hearing, "I have reservations on this one."

The judge said she had received letters from the victim's mother and two aunts, urging her to keep Young in prison as long as possible. Marrinan also pointed out that Young has several other convictions for domestic assault, terroristic threats and was a methamphetamine user.

Marrinan told Young that his prison sentence is likely "the first of many commits." She gave him credit for 201 days he has spent in custody, fined him $3,000 and ordered him to pay restitution for the victim's medical care.

Pat Pheifer • 612-673-4992