FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – Wayne Treacy mouthed the words, “I love you” to his parents  before being sentenced to twenty years in state prison Monday afternoon.

Treacy who turned 18 this month was convicted in July of attempted first degree murder for the attack on Josie Lou Ratley who was left with permanent brain damage.

Prosecutors said Treacy flew into a rage and confronted Ratley outside Deerfield Beach Middle School in March 2010.  Investigators said Treacy was wearing steel-toe boots when he repeatedly kicked Ratley in the head after they exchanged a series of heated text messages.

In one message, Ratley taunted Treacy about his brother who had committed suicide, several months before.

Treacy’s lawyers argued, unsuccessfully, that he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder because Treacy found his brother hanging from a tree.

But Ratley’s lawyer read a letter from her mother urging he be sentenced to 40 years in prison for the attack.

“Wayne Treacy there is not enough sentencing that would ever bring my daughter back to the person she was. We pray to God you never hurt anyone again,” said attorney Sean Domnick.

Treacy’s attorney argued for leniency pointing out he had never been in trouble before and had unresolved anger issues over the suicide of his brother.

Family friend Sandy Mannon read a letter to the court expressing their sorrow over all that has happened.

“Not a day has gone by that we are filled with remorse, not only for Josie but for Wayne. He’s painfully aware he will have to carry the burden of remorse for what he took away from Josie,” read Mannon.

On a related note, a co-defendant in the attack Kayla Manson pleaded no contest Monday to a misdemenaor battery charge. She will spend no time in prison.

Prosecutors said Manson was with Ratley and pointed her out to Wayne Treacy when he showed up to their school in a rage. Manson denied she identified Ratley.

Outside of court,  Treacy’s stepfather lashed out against Josie Lou Ratley who wasn’t present for the sentencing.

“If it wasn’t for her texting, none of this would have happened. Is she sorry for saying the mean cruel things she said. She put herself in that predicament. Who said go visit your dead brother. Did my kid get a fair trial, no he didn’t,” said Cary Smith.