The Army veteran who attacked multiple Asian women throughout New York City last year was sentenced to 1 ⅓ to 4 years in state prison, New York Daily News reports.
On February 27, Steven Zajonc, who was 28 years old at the time, assaulted seven Asian women from approximately 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The women were between the ages of 19 and 57.
According to NBC News, Zajonc was charged with six felony counts of third-degree assault as a hate crime and seven counts of second-degree aggravated harassment, a misdemeanor hate crime.
Zajonc spewed racist insults at his victims while attacking them. According to New York Daily News, Assistant District Attorney Neil Greenwell said Zajonc also systematically picked out Asian women to attack.
Court records suggest that the now 30-year-old had been dealing with an untreated mental illness at the time of the attacks.
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“I started having visions and hearing voices a couple of years ago of people insulting me. Everything bad in my life has happened since that started,” Zajonc told cops after being arrested, New York Daily News reports.
A treatment plan will be developed for his release.
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