Ex-Univ. Kentucky Student Is Sentenced to Prison for Racist Attack on Black Student
Sophia Rosing, 23, was sentenced to one year in prison for a verbal and phyical attack that went viral on TikTok
Fayette County Detention Center
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Fayette County Detention Center
Sophia Rosing
The former University of Kentucky student who was seen on viral video unleashing a tirade of racial slurs against a Black student who was working at a dormitory front desk has been sentenced to a year in prison, a Fayette County Circuit Court clerk confirms to PEOPLE.
On Thursday, Oct. 17, Fayette Circuit Court Judge Lucy Vanmeter sentenced Sophia Rosing, 23, to 12 months in prison for the Nov. 2022 incident, according to the court clerk.
In August, Rosing pleaded guilty to four counts of fourth-degree assault, one count of disorderly conduct and one count of alcohol intoxication, PEOPLE previously reported.
One of the counts of fourth-degree assault was for kicking a police officer and biting his hand, court records show.
Rosing was ordered to perform 100 hours of community service and pay a $25 fine.
On Nov. 6, 2022, in an incident that garnered national attention after it went viral, Rosing, a senior, was seen attacking Kyla Spring, a then-19-year-old freshman, who was working the overnight shift at the dormitory’s front desk, the Courier-Journal, the Lexington Herald Leader and WLWT5 report.
Rosing was “very intoxicated,” according to a police report cited by the Herald-Leader, and entered the campus residence hall without an ID, according to authorities, CBS News reported.
When Spring asked her if she was OK, Rosing began attacking her both verbally and physically, police said, WKYT reported.
Spring kept her composure as Rosing pushed her while yelling slurs at her, the video shows.
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When Spring asked her to please stop, Rosing can be seen in the video replying, “No, thank you. You’re a n—–. You’re a b—-,” over and over again.
Arrested that night, Rosing pleaded not guilty.
She was subsequently expelled from the university and banned from campus by the university president.
Taylor Six/Lexington Herald-Leader/Tribune News Service/Getty
Sophia Rosing, 22, leaves the courtroom after she waived her right to a preliminary hearing during an appearance in November 2022.
In Feb. 2023, a grand jury indicted Rosing on six counts, including assault and public intoxication, WKYT reported.
After the incident, University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto wrote in a letter to the university that Spring “acted with professionalism, restraint and discretion.”
In an interview with CBS Mornings in 2022, Spring said she knew she had to remain calm, even while Rosing was verbally and physically attacking her.
“I wanted to make sure I acted appropriately so that I could keep my job because the script could have been flipped at any time if I had retaliated,” Spring told CBS Mornings.
In a statement to PEOPLE, Rosing’s attorney, Fred Peters, called the sentence “extremely unfair and out of proportion” and “extremely harsh for a first offense where no one was hurt to the extent that they required any medical treatment whatsoever. Sophia was just completely out of her mind drunk.If there was a way we could appeal her sentence we would but unfortunately, I don’t think there is any grounds at the present.”
At her sentencing, Rosing apologized in court saying she had never used the N-word before and would never use it again, Fox 56 reports.
Rosing is being held in the Fayette County Detention Center.
The judge sentenced her to 12 months in prison for each of the four counts with the sentences running concurrently.
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