Photo by Brandon Anderson.

A D.C. man has been sentenced to eight years in prison for a brutal attack on a coworker who he believed was making a sexual advance.

David Morris, 33, pleaded guilty to felony assault with intent to kill in the March 14 assault, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced. The charge also includes a bias enhancement.

Morris was drinking at his apartment in Northeast with a 52-year-old man he knew from work on the evening of March 14. After the coworker did something that Morris interpreted as a homosexual overture, Morris threw him out of his apartment and down the stairs, prosecutors said. He then dragged the victim out of the building and went back inside before returning several times to assault him.

The first time, Morris jumped off a ledge and stomped on the victim’s head before punching him in the head and upper body and screaming that he “tried to rape me.” Morris went back inside before returning with a metal pole that he used to strike the victim in the head. He went inside a third time, only to come out again and kick the victim in the head while wearing boots.

The attack left the victim bleeding profusely outside the building. He was hospitalized for nearly two weeks and lost feeling in the right side of his face, which will require surgery. Four months after the assault, he still uses a cane.

“This criminal’s prejudices drove him to punch, stomp, and use a metal pole to beat his co-worker,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Vincent Cohen. “He will spend the next eight years in prison as punishment for this brutal assault. The U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to prioritize the prosecution of criminals who express their hate through violence.”