A former Miami-Dade Schools Police officer has been sentenced to a lengthy prison term for the attempted murder of her ex-boyfriend, an off-duty Miami-Dade Police officer. Yessenia Sanchez was handed down a sentence of 30 years in prison followed by a 20-year probationary period, as reported by WSVN. The incident, which occurred on November 5, 2022, involved Sanchez shooting Officer Damian Colon in the head outside his family's home in Hialeah.
In an emotional courtroom scene, David Colon, Damian's brother, expressed his anguish over the actions of the defendant. "You have destroyed a family. You have destroyed someone full of life, full of plans, with a bright future. You did that,” he said in a statement obtained by WSVN. Meanwhile, Damian Colon greeted with applause after the court adjourned, acknowledged the gravity of the sentence, "Justice is served, and I think she got what she deserved. She should have gotten more, but I'll take what she got," he told.
Sanchez, who plead guilty to charges of first-degree attempted murder with a deadly weapon and stalking, utilized a tracking app to locate Colon according to prosecutors. After locating him, she confronted and shot him before fleeing the site of the crime. The turmoil of the event compounded with a previous arrest for domestic violence, in which she resigned from her position in lieu of termination, as indicated by the Miami-Dade School District in CBS News Miami.
Complementing the statement of David Colon at court, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle released a poignant statement, spotlighting the broader issue of domestic violence. "No one is immune to the terror and horror of domestic violence," she said, citing Sanchez's violent act as an example of the aggression present in such incidents, according to WSVN.
"Sanchez's 30-year sentence cannot restore the physical damage she did while trying to kill the man she once claimed to have loved. Sadly, those scars will last forever," she added, as per information obtained by CBS News Miami.
The recovery for Damian Colon has been arduous, and though he expressed gratefulness for the support of family and the 'brothers and sisters in blue,' the incident precipitated his early retirement. Damian's career with the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office, which he said Sanchez ended, spanned 17 years. "I feel blessed. Thank God for them, I've gotten through this tough situation," Damian told WSVN, reflecting on the road to recovery and the end of a profession he would have loved to continue.
