Johnson, a retired Port of Tacoma maintenance electrician, was just weeks shy of his 70th birthday when he was attacked January 8 during the daily walk he takes through his east Tacoma neighborhood.

He was near his home at 69th and McKinley walking with the help of a cane he has used since hip replacement surgery. Witnesses said the attacker knocked Johnson to the ground, kicked him in the face, and began stomping on his head before running away.

He died in the hospital one week after the attack.

Police had very little to go on and Crimestoppers posted cash rewards for information leading to an arrest.

A break in the case came more than a month later when a friend of Brown's turned him in.

Brown agreed to plead guilty to first-degree murder in exchange for prosecutors agreeing not to seek the death penalty. Under current sentencing guidelines, 30 years was the maximum allowable sentence.

The motive for the beating was robbery, though nothing was taken from the victim except his life.

Johnson's family members were split on whether to forgive the man who killed him.

"So as hard as it is to say looking at you for the first time, I forgive you," Johnson's daughter, Bobbi McDonald, said in court. "But don't be mistaken, I will never forget."

Her sister, Mary Garbagni, was not as lenient. "I'm sorry to say that I will not ever forgive Mr. Brown for what he did to my dad."

Then it was Brown's turn to address the court.

"I'd like to apologize to the family of the victim for what happened," he said to the judge. "I want you to know that I'm taking the guilty plea for what I've done. I'm merciful sorry for what has happened."

But as Brown was being sentenced, emotions boiled over into a pushing and shouting match at the back of the courtroom after a member of Brown's family made a derisive comment about the victim.

No one was seriously injured, but the fight forced security officers and Pierce County Sheriff Deputies to pull the mass of people apart and keep them separated.

Courthouse officials are reviewing surveillance video to determine whether anyone should be charged in the scuffle.

Two other men charged in Johnson's beating death are each being held on $1,000,000 bail while awaiting trial.