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Teen Sentenced In 'Skateboard-Trick' Beating

POSTED: Thursday, September 22, 2005
UPDATED: 1:25 pm EDT September 22, 2005

A Central Florida teen accused of taking part in the beating of a 16-year-old after he refused to perform a skating trick was sentenced in the attack Thursday.

  • "They sucker punched me," Caleb Benning said. "I got hit so hard they knocked down the cheek bone..."

    Caleb Benning (pictured) was unrecognizable after four boys allegedly beat him near a Port Orange, Fla., park when he refused to show them a skateboarding trick.

    Several kicks to Benning's face knocked his jaw out of alignment and he still has metal plates in his face that hold his eye in place, WKMG-TV reporter Tarik Minor said.

    "They sucker-punched me," Benning said. "I got hit so hard they knocked down the cheek bone..."

    One of the alleged attackers, Jeremiah Keifer, 16, begged a judge for mercy Thursday and told a judge he was sorry for the attack. Keifer cut a deal with prosecutors, agreeing to testify against the other boys.

    "I'm very sorry for what I did and I realize that if I would have known any of this would have happened, there is no way in my mind I would have done it," Keifer said.

    Prosecutors said Keifer sucker punched Benning before the group beating.

    Kiefer was sentenced to 9 to 19 months in a juvenile facility.

    Another teen, Keith Mitchell is also charged with being a principal to aggravated battery. Mitchell's trial begins in November.

    Meanwhile, the other two teens allegedly involved in the attack may soon be charged.

    Port Orange police are still investigating the incident.

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