Fayette Circuit Court Judge Lucy Vanmeter has denied an early release request from a former University of Kentucky student who made national headlines when a viral video showed her hurling racial slurs at a Black student.
As previously reported by Face2Face Africa, Sophia Rosing was handed a 12-month jail sentence over the incident. However, the judge denied her request for early release on March 12.
Per the Courier Journal, Rosing, who was convicted in October 2024, filed the motion seeking an early release on February 25. Rosing had asked the Fayette Circuit Court to suspend the remainder of her sentence and put her on probation.
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Rosing filed the court documents under “shock probation”, which provides nonviolent and low-risk offenders to be “sentenced to prison for a relatively short period of time and to serve the remainder” of the conviction on “probation in the community.”
Rosing being denied an early release came after the victim she hurled the racial slurs at, Kylah Spring, and her mother sent the judge letters. The court emphasized that it denied Rosing’s request because it felt an approval would “unduly depreciate the seriousness of the offenses,” the Courier Journal reported.
Fayette Commonwealth Attorney Daniel Whitley had emphasized that Rosing filed the motion after her commitment to “personal growth and accountability” and enduring “tremendous personal and professional consequences” in the aftermath of the incident.
Whitley also stated the former University of Kentucky senior’s “continued incarceration will not serve the best interests of justice, nor will it contribute to her rehabilitation.” Whitley asked for the court to release Rosing and place her on tight supervision alongside counseling programs including anger management, substance abuse education, racial sensitivity training, and community service obligations.
Vanmeter sentenced Rosing to 100 hours of community service in addition to her jail term. She was also fined $25. Rosing’s conviction came after she pleaded guilty to charges of assault, disorderly conduct, and public intoxication.
In November 2022, Rosing, who is White, assaulted Spring, a then-19-year-old black student worker, using racial slurs during a drunken incident at a campus residence hall, as reported by the New York Post.
According to authorities and video evidence, Spring had initially approached Rosing to check on her due to her apparent intoxication but was instead subjected to the violent attack.
“The girl starts saying things like ‘Do my chores,’ ‘It’s not my fault that you’re black,’ ‘It’s not my fault that you’re ugly,’ and at this point, she’s like singing the N-word,” Spring recalled at the time. Rosing continued her disruptive behavior even after police arrived, allegedly kicking and biting an officer during her arrest.
Following the racist attack, the University of Kentucky banned Rosing from campus.
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