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BC-FACEBOOK-ATTACK:TB — national (450 words)

Last of 4 defendants pleads guilty to beating teen with disability in livestreamed Facebook attack

(PHOTO)

Chicago Tribune

(TNS)

CHICAGO — A fourth and final defendant pleaded guilty Thursday to a hate crime for taking part in the beating of a teen with mental disabilities that was livestreamed on Facebook.

Tesfaye Cooper, 20, turned to face the victim’s family, saying in a barely audible voice, “I do want to apologize for the pain I put y’all through.”

Cook County prosecutors detailed at length what they called the “physical abuse and mental torture” that the teen suffered. Authorities have said the victim, who was 18 at the time of the attack in January 2017 and friends with one of his assailants, has schizophrenia and attention...