A teenager involved in the brutal attack on a Texas soccer player will serve 120 days in jail after the victim’s family showed “mercy,” the family’s attorney says

• In a plea deal, Texas teenager Reid Mitchell pleaded guilty to assaulting teammate Cole Hagan, The Facts reported.

• Mitchell will serve 120 days in prison and the next 10 years on probation.

• The Hagans are “very pleased” and feel the justice system has worked, their attorney told Insider.

Reid Mitchell, who is accused by prosecutors of brutally assaulting teammate Cole Hagan in 2021, has reached a settlement. He will serve 120 days in prison and then a 10-year probation.

Mitchell, 19, pleaded guilty Friday. He was joined by his family — including his parents, sister and two sets of grandparents — in the courtroom in Angleton, Texas, according to Brazoria County newspaper The Facts, which first reported the settlement.

According to The Facts, Mitchell exited the courtroom in handcuffs en route to the Brazoria County Jail for his 120-day sentence. The conviction on his record will be overturned if he serves his 10-year probation free of other violations, the outlet reported.

Hagan’s attorney, Loren Klitsas, told Insider the family is “pleased” with the settlement.

“The family is very, very happy with the verdict against Reid Mitchell,” Klitsas told Insider. “They feel the justice system worked.”

A Brazoria County grand jury indicted Mitchell in March 2022 for second-degree aggravated assault after attacking Hagan at a pool party on the night of December 3, 2021. Teens Logan Huber and Ayden Holland told police they lured Hagan outside , where Mitchell punched him, leaving him in the hospital and on a ventilator with a fractured skull, cerebral hemorrhage, and a broken collarbone.

The Texas court also charged Huber and Holland with aggravated assault. According to court documents, her hearing is scheduled for May 15.

Cole Hagan chose to “show mercy” to Reid Mitchell, Hagan’s attorney said.

In the courtroom on Friday, prosecutors filed a written statement from Hagan urging the judge and prosecutors to accept the lawsuit, The Facts reported. Hagan “spoke softly but firmly” when called as a witness to accept the terms of the plea agreement, according to the outlet.

The story goes on

Mitchell made no statement at the hearing, other than confirming Judge Patrick Bulanek’s questions that he understood the terms of the agreement, one of which was that Mitchell could not contact Hagan, The Facts reported.

Hagan left the courtroom accompanied by his father Mark shortly after the settlement, according to The Facts. In a direct conversation with Mitchell, Judge Bulanek said, according to The Facts, that “the only person you should really thank is the guy who just came out of this courtroom.”

“You can’t contact him, but you should have thanked him. He’s probably the only reason I’m accepting this request. Otherwise I would have let a jury of your colleagues make the decision for me. Really, the people who are showing you mercy are probably the people who shouldn’t be doing it,” Bulanek told the teen, The Facts reported.

Klitsas told Insider that in discussions with the district attorney, Hagan and his family elected to “show mercy” to Mitchell given his age and lack of a history.

“Cole and the family have decided to show him mercy and give him a chance. He now has 10 years to take back his life and change the path he’s taken,” Klitsas told Insider. “And if he doesn’t, the judge has made it clear that he will throw the book at him, that there will be no second chances. So the Hagens were for it.”

After the prison sentence, a civil lawsuit worth millions is threatened.

Mitchell’s defense attorney Paul Nugent told The Facts it was a “fair and just solution”. Nugent didn’t immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment on Sunday.

District Attorney Tom Selleck told the outlet that “they’re just kids,” adding that Mitchell’s responsibility for his actions against Hagan was an integral part of the deal, The Facts reported.

“Sometimes kids do things that have tragic consequences, and that’s what happened in this case,” Selleck said, per The Facts. “Maybe someone else will pause to take at least a moment and think about the potential of what they’re doing and the impact it’s going to have. There are no real winners here, but everyone will be able to get on with their lives and pick up the pieces and move forward.”

Klitsas is representing that family in a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against several of Hagan’s colleagues – who have been accused of having knowledge of the attack before it happened – and their parents, Insider previously reported. So far, Klitsas said, three families have settled.

“We hope all parties will come forward and settle their differences with us about what happened,” Klitsas told Insider. “The Hagan family is pleased that they were able to resolve these differences and that it will help Cole with college and in the future and that his life can be reclaimed and move forward.”

As a high school senior, Hagan is preparing to enroll at Texas State University, Klitsas said.

“He has miraculously recovered and is fine,” Klitsas told Insider. “And to be honest, for an 18-year-old boy, it was his choice to show mercy and that’s what he wanted to do.”

Read the original article on Insider