Nov. 30 (UPI) — A man from Yonkers, N.Y., convicted of punching a 67-year-old Asian woman more than 100 times was sentenced on Wednesday to more than 17 years in prison for the crime.
Tammel Esco, 42, received 17 1/2 years in state prison for the violent hate crime, as well as an additional five years of post-release supervision, the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office said in a release.
Esco was arrested on March 11 and charged with attempted murder as a hate crime for beating the 67-year-old woman, who is of Filipino descent. Esco was still at the crime scene in Yonkers, N.Y., when police arrived.
The crime was captured on video surveillance.
According to an investigation, the victim walked by Esco on her way home and yelled a racial slur at her. The attack happened as she was attempting to enter the residential building on Riverdale Avenue in which they both lived.
Esco approached the victim from behind as she entered the vestibule and punched her in the head, knocking her to the ground.
Police later determined that she had been punched in the head and face more than 125 times, foot-stomped seven times and spit on.
The victim sustained facial bone fractures, brain bleeding and multiple contusions and lacerations to her head.
Esco pled guilty Sept. 27 to assault in the first degree as a hate crime.
“Today, we close a chapter on one of the most vicious and shocking hate crimes we’ve seen in Westchester County, District Attorney Miriam Rocah said in a statement.
“The successful prosecution of this case is the result of the courage and cooperation of the victim and her family, the partnership of the Yonkers Police Department and our dedicated team who worked tirelessly on behalf of the victim.”
She added: “This is a case that has traumatized not only the victim and her family, but also her neighbors, the Westchester community, and the broader Asian American and Pacific Islander community.”
The victim, who has not been named publicly, read a victim impact statement aloud in court:
“Because of the viciousness and hate of Tammel Esco, I lost the place I called home for over 24 years, the place where I raised my daughters, and my longtime neighbors,” the victim told the judge.
“As the attack happened, all I could think was, ‘Please Lord, let me live, please Lord, my daughters need me.’ A complete stranger heartlessly spit, beat and kicked me over 100 times just because of my heritage.
“My only hope is that God and the criminal justice system will see fit to make sure this never happens to any other innocent family again.”
“Tammel Esco brutally assaulted an innocent victim in a hate-filled attack; he will now spend the next 17 years of his life in prison as a consequence of his actions,” Yonkers Police Commissioner Christopher Sapienza said in a statement.
“Let this sentence be a clear message to others who would perpetrate violence in our communities, that Yonkers and Westchester law enforcement will commit every resource to hold violent criminals accountable.”
