MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The news was bittersweet when Ken Diviney heard the news that one of his son’s attackers would remain in prison for at least one more year.
On Monday, Austin Vantrease, 22, was denied parole for a second time. He was convicted of malicious assault for kicking an unresponsive Diviney in the head during a fight in Morgantown in 2009.
“He’ll be held accountable for his crime for one more year but bitter because it really doesn’t change the circumstances of Ryan’s daily life,” Ken Diviney told MetroNews Talkline Tuesday.
Since the attack in 2009, Ryan has been in a coma-like state. Each day, Ryan spends time in a hyperbaric chamber, in physical therapy and doing numerous other physical and mental exercises .
“Sometimes it seems like there’s a flicker of it and sometimes it might go months or weeks but we hang on to what little hope we have,” Diviney said.
During Monday’s parole hearing, Vantrease apologized to the Diviney family for the first time for his actions. Ken admits he may be to critical but said he didn’t hear sincerity from Vantrease and question the timing of the apology in front of the parole board, pointing out Vantrease has had years to apologize.
“Ultimately, it is not up to me, my wife or my daughter to forgive him. Forgiveness is Ryan’s to give and right now they’ve taken away his ability to do that,” Ken Diviney said.
If Vantrease serves his full sentence he’ll likely be released in 2015 on good behavior. The other man convicted in the attack, Johnathan May, has already served his prison sentence and has been released.
You can follow Ryan’s progress at the blog Ryan’s Rally.org.