44-year-old Jermaine Long of Daytona Beach was sentenced to 45 years in prison on Thursday for an attack with a box cutter earlier this year. Long was accused of attacking a 13-year-old boy on February 14.
Long entered a no contest plea on Thursday to aggravated battery and attempted second-degree murder. He also entered pleas for three other cases totaling six more charges. Long's plea resulted in his 45-year sentence with 30 years as a prison releasee reoffender.
The incident in question occurred on February 14 near the Daytona Beach Boardwalk. Long was said to have attacked 13-year-old Sullivan Clarke with a box cutter, slashing him across the neck. Surveillance footage appeared to capture Long moving behind Clarke before attacking him.
Shortly after the attack police found Long near the scene. He was said to have been carrying a box cutter and knife when he was taken into custody. Long was charged with several felonies and booked into the Volusia County Branch Jail without bond. He's remained in custody ever since his initial arrest.
Clarke was hospitalized and received 13 stitches. The boy and his mother Lori Clarke, who witnessed the attack, were both present at Thursday's hearing. Sullivan Clarke told FOX 35 Orlando that the courtroom was his first time seeing Long's face, and that he didn't forgive him for what happened eight months earlier.
Aside from the February 14 attack, Long has several other bookings on record in Volusia County. Other charges include aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, petty theft, failure to register as a sex offender, controlled substance possession, and introduction of contraband into a detention facility among others.
