A 77-year-old Filipino American man and his family broke their silence in a Las Vegas courtroom Monday, nearly two years after what they describe as a brutal, hate-fueled attack by a neighbor.
Tears, anger and heartbreak filled the courtroom as Amadeo Quindara and his family finally spoke out about the violent assault that left him with permanent injuries.
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"This was not a misunderstanding, he wanted to kill my dad," one family member said.
"Our lives were shattered when my dad was violently attacked by Christian Lentz right in our own garage. Our home, supposed to be a safe place, became the site of something unthinkable," said Phil Quindara.
The attack happened on May 30, 2023. Amadeo says he was sitting in his garage in Mountains Edge when his neighbor, Christian Lentz, launched a violent assault on him that was caught on security video.
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"You were almost successful in killing me," Amadeo Quindara said.
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Quindara says he was beaten, slammed to the ground and left unconscious. His wife found him in a pool of blood. He suffered a brain bleed, memory loss and permanent injuries.
"You took away the things that I earned in my life because you don't like the way I look," Amadeo Quindara said.
Just one day before the attack, Quindara says Lentz told him and his friends to "speak English" while they talked in Tagalog.
Lentz later pleaded guilty but mentally ill to hate crime charges. In court Monday, he apologized.
"The main thing I want to convey is my deepest, serious apologies to the victim and his family... and the community on the greater whole," Lentz said.
His attorney, Mandy McKellar, defended him saying he was not in his right mind during the attack.
"He is not here to deny the gravity of his actions, but to explain that the man who committed these actions was not the man sitting next to me... he was not in his right mind," McKellar said.
McKellar says Lentz had a severe psychotic break from bipolar disorder and was wrongfully released from a mental health hold just days before the incident.
The Quindara family disagrees with this defense.
"Knowing Christian Lentz hasn't led me to believe that this mental illness defense is an excuse for his vile and racist actions," Henry Quindara said.
They also say waiting two years for justice has only deepened their trauma.
"Justice delayed is justice denied," Henry Quindara said.
Judge Jennifer Schwartz pushed back sentencing again, this time over restitution. State prosecutor Colleen Baharav says she wants Lentz to pay over $83,000 to cover medical bills, travel and home security for Quindara.
"I was hoping they're gonna get the maximum. And that's all I could say," Amadeo Quindara said.
The next court date for sentencing is set for August 4 at 9 a.m.
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