A Hialeah woman who was found kneeling over her ex-boyfriend's body six years ago, screaming for him to wake up, pleaded guilty this week to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 25 years in state prison. Karina Corbalan, now 30, admitted to shooting 28-year-old Alexis Sanchez multiple times near the 5600 block of West 21st Street on March 2, 2020, as he sat in front of his own home.
According to NBC 6 South Florida, Corbalan had been facing a mandatory life sentence if the case went to trial, but instead struck a deal that will send her to prison for 25 years followed by 10 years of probation. Sanchez, known to his family as Coco, died after being rushed to a local hospital, the station reported. Family members said he had ended his roughly five-year relationship with Corbalan shortly before the shooting.
A Scene of Chaos and a Confession
Officers who responded to the shooting on March 2, 2020, found Corbalan kneeling over Sanchez's body, shouting “wake up, Alex,” before she admitted to detectives that she had shot him following an argument, according to WPLG Local 10. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue airlifted Sanchez to Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center, the county's primary Level 1 adult trauma facility, where doctors pronounced him dead from multiple gunshot wounds, per the same outlet's reporting. News footage and police scene photos from that day showed a black Mercedes sedan with a shattered windshield and bullet holes at the scene, where Hialeah police recovered the firearm used in the shooting.
Sanchez's sister, Aymee Sanchez, said there were 15 bullets fired and that Corbalan did not stop, according to Telemundo 51's reporting cited by NBC 6 South Florida. She described Corbalan as heartless and evil. At Corbalan's initial court appearance the day after the shooting, she was held without bond at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center and wore a padded suicide-watch safety vest, the outlet's report noted, while the victim's mother told the judge she wanted to see her son's girlfriend pay for the murder.
Prior Arrest and Neighborhood Warning Signs
Court records reported at the time showed Corbalan had a prior criminal record in Miami-Dade County, including a 2019 arrest for battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting an officer with violence, a case that was closed after she completed a pre-trial diversion program typically reserved for first-time non-violent offenders. A next-door neighbor told CBS Miami that a Ring security camera captured rapid gunfire outside the home on the day of the shooting, and neighbors said the couple had a history of violent altercations.
Dozens of friends and family members gathered for a candlelight vigil outside Sanchez's Hialeah home the evening after the shooting, mourning him and calling for justice, according to Local 10's coverage. In the courtroom this week, Corbalan addressed the case directly, saying, “I loved Alejandro Sanchez. I am sorry. I am sorry. I never wanted to hurt him,” per NBC 6 South Florida's report.
Why the 25-Year Deal Made Sense Under Florida Law
The plea agreement reflects the mechanics of Florida's firearm sentencing statutes. Under Florida Statute § 775.087, the state's “10-20-Life” law enacted in 1999, discharging a firearm during certain felonies that results in death carries a mandatory minimum of 25 years to life in prison, with no judicial discretion to go lower, according to the Florida Senate. Separately, second-degree murder under Florida Statute § 782.04(2) is a first-degree felony punishable by up to life imprisonment or life on probation, with a Criminal Punishment Code minimum sentence of 16.75 years.
Those statutory floors help explain why both sides ultimately settled on the 25-year term rather than risk a jury trial. As Diario Las Américas reported this week, Corbalan weighed the 25-year plea offer in Miami-Dade Circuit Court specifically to avoid a trial where she faced potential mandatory life imprisonment. Six years passed between the March 2020 shooting and this week's plea deal, closing out one of Hialeah's longest-running domestic violence homicide cases.
