KINGSTON, Ulster County (WABC) — An Ulster County mother is fighting for justice after her son was nearly killed in an assault that led to only a misdemeanor charge against the suspect.
Donna Augustine visits her quadriplegic son in the hospital every day since he was assaulted back in May.
Steven Augustine, a father of two, was walking home from work late at night when he was attacked near a Kingston bakery. The beating left him paralyzed and on a ventilator.
“He doesn’t know us,” Donna Augustine said in an exclusive interview with 7 On Your Side Investigates. “He doesn’t respond to anything. Basically, he is missing the whole left side of his brain.”
She reached out to 7 On Your Side after the assault led only to a misdemeanor charge against Charles Miles, who is now serving a 10-month sentence. Miles has past drug convictions and reportedly got into a fight with Steven Augustine over money.
Ulster County District Attorney Holley Carnright says that since Miles did not intend to cause serious physical harm to Augustine, his office could not bring felony assault charges against him.
“The injuries to his face were consistent with a single punch,” Carnright said. “The skull fracture was consistent with a fall backwards.”
Carnright says it was the fall backwards that caused Augustine’s serious head injury.
