As the Stidd and Smith families sat in the cramped courtroom's jury box, friends and fraternity brothers of severely injured Penn State student Aaron Stidd lined the row behind them, each wearing a red "StiddStrong" shirt.

Throughout the two-hour hearing, this row of red never sat nor spoke, giving silent and sometimes tearful witness to the pleas made before Centre County Judge Thomas Kistler.

Dan Hooper, a longtime friend of Stidd's, was one of about 10 of Stidd's friends present yesterday. He was also there for Torsell's trial and will definitely come to the sentencing, he said -- during which he hopes Kistler will hand down the maximum sentence of six to 10 years in prison.

"There needs to be an example set," he said. "In my mind, [Torsell] still hasn't owned up to it."

Hooper's fellow Stidd supporters agreed: They said they were "outraged" at the arguments Torsell's friends and family made and that they found his stoic testimony insincere.

"I lay in bed at night and I pray for Richard's soul and I pray for Aaron's recovery," Torsell told the court yesterday. "I understand that I will pay for what I've done."

However, Hooper maintains Torsell never expressed regret directly to the victims' parents, keeping his comments squarely focused on Kistler. And while he had plenty to say about himself, he had little to say to the victims' families, Hooper said.

"He didn't acknowledge the parents ... he just said he was a good person," Hooper said. "Aaron Stidd was a good person."

Tara McMinn, a senior at Juniata College, drove from Huntingdon County to attend the hearing to support Stidd. Torsell said he regretted what he had done, but McMinn said he has never demonstrated it.

The Torsell family left the courtroom as soon as the exterior hallway cleared, ushering Anthony Torsell out without comment.

"If his remorse was so overwhelming -- he could have reached out, and he didn't," McMinn said.

All of the red-shirted supporters said 21-year-old Torsell should serve the maximum sentence possible.

"He needs solitary time to sit and think," McMinn said. "It's impossible to have closure."

McMinn has been friends with Stidd since second grade, she said. If she can skip class to be present for his sentencing, she said she will.

"We've all been on this ride," she said. "It's just one more body to show what he meant to us."