Crime

Ex-Miami-Dade school cop gets 30 years for shooting fellow cop boyfriend in the head

A former Miami-Dade Schools Police officer is set to spend 30 years in prison for shooting her ex-boyfriend, a Miami-Dade Police officer, in the head outside his Hialeah home in November 2022.

Court records show that Yessenia Sanchez, 35, who had a history of domestic violence with her ex-boyfriend, Damian Colon, accepted a plea deal on Friday.

At the time of the shooting, Sanchez and Colon had been in a seven-year relationship. Colon was rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center, where he underwent surgery and survived.

According to Hialeah police, Sanchez used GPS to track Colon, who was off-duty at the time, to his family’s home in the 1200 block of West 79th Street. She then unholstered her gun, shot him once, and took off. While attempting to escape, she crashed her car, abandoned it and fled on foot before being apprehended.

READ MORE: Miami-Dade officer clinging to life after shooting. Ex-girlfriend pulled trigger, cops say

Sanchez was charged at the time with attempted first-degree murder with a deadly weapon, aggravated stalking and leaving the scene of an accident. Police identified her through video surveillance and she later confessed to the shooting, admitting she had used GPS to track Colon.

In 2021, Sanchez was arrested on a domestic violence charge related to an altercation with Colon in which she threatened herself with a gun and knife, threw a ceramic object at him, punched and scratched him and slashed his car tires.

“No one is immune to the terror and horror of domestic violence. Former police officer Yessenia Sanchez’s shooting of her ex-boyfriend, another police officer, sadly proves this point,” State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said in a statement after the sentencing.

MM
Milena Malaver
Miami Herald
Milena Malaver covers crime and breaking news for the Miami Herald. She was born and raised in Miami-Dade and is a graduate of Florida International University. She joined the Herald shortly after graduating.
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