ST. MARYS, W.Va. (AP) — A 23-year-old man who beat a West Virginia University student into a permanent vegetative state in 2009 has been granted parole.
The Dominion Post (http://bit.ly/1kFqvCL) says Austin Vantrease had his parole approved by a three-person board on Wednesday. He will be released within the next 90 days.
At a hearing at the St. Marys Correctional Center, the parole board said the move will keep him under supervision for up to six years.
Vantrease has served four years of an up to 10 year prison sentence for malicious assault for kicking WVU sophomore Ryan Diviney.
Diviney was punched and kicked in the head during an argument about the World Series. Diviney has been in a vegetative state since the attack and receives 24-hour care at home in Ashburn, Va.
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Information from: The Dominion Post, http://www.dominionpost.com
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