A Wausau teen will serve 13 years in prison for stabbing another teen. Sixteen year-old Dylan Yang must also spend another 17 years on extended supervision for the death of 13-year-old Isaiah Powell in February of last year.
Members of both families were among about 100 people at Wednesday’s sentencing in Marathon County Court — and the strong emotions of the case prompted extra security at the Marathon County Courthouse.
Yang will not have any further contact with the Powell family, and upon his release from prison, he must remain completely sober for his entire supervision period.
Yang was involved with gangs before the fatal stabbing, and had been exchanging racially charged barbs with Powell on social media prior to the fatal encounter. At a protest rally in May, Hmong residents and their supporters in the community said Yang should have been charged as a juvenile, and that the Wausau schools should do more to stop bullying.
Yang’s defense attorney, Harry Hertel, had suggested 30 years of probation with a harsh prison sentence should it be violated, but Judge LaMont Jacobson believed a probation sentence wouldn’t reflect the serious nature of the crime. Prosecutors argued for 25 years in prison and 20 years of supervision.
WSAU