Martin Blackwell was sentenced to 40 years for pouring hot water on two gay men. (John Bazemore/AP)

GEORGIA

Man who threw boiled water on gays convicted

A jury convicted a Georgia man on Wednesday of throwing boiled water on a same-sex couple sleeping in an apartment, leaving them with severe burns that required surgery.

Jurors deliberated for about 90 minutes before finding Martin Blackwell guilty of eight counts of aggravated battery and two counts of aggravated assault in the attack on Anthony Gooden and Marquez Tolbert. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

Blackwell’s attorney acknowledged that he poured water on the pair and said he deserved to be punished, but the lawyer asked jurors to find that it was reckless conduct.

Prosecutors said it was a vicious, premeditated attack.

Blackwell, 48, was a long-distance truck driver and lived with his girlfriend, Kim Foster, at her sister’s apartment in College Park, Ga., when he was in town. Gooden, who is Foster’s son, and Tolbert had been dating about a month and were sleeping at the apartment Feb. 12 after working an overnight shift when Blackwell dumped boiled water on them.

Georgia does not have a hate-crimes law. The FBI said in March that it had opened a hate-crimes investigation.

— Associated Press

MINNESOTA

Officer who shot Castile back on leave

The Minnesota police officer who fatally shot a black man during a traffic stop last month is back on administrative leave after briefly returning to limited duty last week, the city of St. Anthony said in a statement Wednesday.

The city said it decided to put the officer, Jeronimo Yanez, 28, back on leave “after reviewing concerns and other feedback from the community.”

Yanez fatally shot 32-year-old Philando Castile during a traffic stop on July 6 in nearby Falcon Heights. Castile’s girlfriend — who live-streamed the shooting’s gruesome aftermath on Facebook — said Castile was shot several times while reaching for his ID after telling the officer he had a gun permit and was armed.

After Yanez, who is Latino, returned to work, a group of protesters gathered at the police station, demanding that he be charged. Castile’s uncle, Clarence Castile, was among the family members at the protest.

— Associated Press

MISSISSIPPI

Man who tried to join Islamic State gets prison

A Mississippi man who tried to travel to Syria with his fiancee to join the Islamic State was sentenced Wednesday to eight years in prison on federal terrorism charges.

U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock sentenced Muhammad Dakhlalla after he pleaded guilty in March to one count of conspiring to provide material support to a terrorist organization. He was also sentenced to 15 years of probation.

Dakhlalla faced up to 20 years in prison, $250,000 in fines and lifetime probation.

His fiancee, Jaelyn Young, was sentenced earlier this month to 12 years in prison and 15 years’ probation, including mandatory mental health treatment.

Prosecutors have portrayed Young, who converted to Islam while studying at Mississippi State University, as the mastermind who talked Dakhlalla into going along. However, prosecutors said, Dakhlalla ultimately agreed to the plan.

Young and Dakhlalla were arrested in August 2015 before they could board a flight from Columbus, Miss., to Istanbul with tickets purchased using Young’s mother’s credit card. Both have remained jailed in Oxford, Miss., since their arrests.

— Associated Press