Greg Lee/KABC
A man was sentenced to nine years in prison Thursday morning for brutally beating an 83-year-old man in Santa Ana last year.
Demarrea Chante Barnes attacked Tuyen Nguyen in the parking lot of Tan Hoang Huong in the 5000 block of W. Edinger Avenue around 6:10 a.m. on September 25. Nguyen was out on his regular walk and Barnes attacked him.
Tuyen Nguyen, right, is shown in a family photo. (Photo: Courtesy Nguyen Family)
The unprovoked assault was caught on surveillance video. Barnes’ aunt publicly apologized to the family after his arrest back in September.
“We just want to say we’re sorry,” Wilda Wright said. “We apologize because this is out of character for my nephew..This is not him, this is not the Demarrea that we know.”
Nguyen was transported to a local hospital in critical condition following the attack. He suffered a brain hemorrhage and broken eye socket.
Demarrea Chante Barnes, 29, is seen in a booking photo. (Credit: Santa Ana Police Department)
Barnes, believed to be a transient, was arrested the day after the attack. He was booked into jail on charges of assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm and assault with a deadly weapon with great bodily injury.
