Man who punched Asian woman more than 100 times sentenced to 17.5 years in prison
Westchester County District Attorney Miriam E. Rocah speaks during a news conference on November 30.
By Nicki Brown, CNN
A man seen in surveillance video punching an elderly Asian woman more than 100 times and stomping on her body in Yonkers, New York, has been sentenced to more than 17 years in state prison, prosecutors announced Tuesday.
“Today we close a chapter on one of the most violent and shocking hate crimes that we’ve seen in Westchester County,” Westchester County District Attorney Miriam Rocah said in a news conference.
Tammel Esco, 42, pleaded guilty in September to assault in the first degree as a hate crime based on an agreement with prosecutors, Rocah said. He was sentenced to 17.5 years in state prison and will be subject to five years of post-release supervision, she said.
Graphic surveillance video of the incident posted by Yonkers police shows the brutal March 11 attack, which took place after the 67-year-old woman, who is of Filipino descent, walked past Esco. Prosecutors said he called her “Asian b*tch” shortly before the attack.
Video shows the woman walking into her apartment building vestibule and putting her keys in the door as Esco enters the building behind her and punches her in the head, knocking her to the ground.
After she fell to the ground, Esco punched her more than 100 times, stomped on her body repeatedly and spit on her, according to the felony complaint.
The woman suffered brain bleeding, and multiple facial fractures, among other injuries, prosecutors said.
“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 … As the attack happened, all I could think was, ‘Please Lord let me live, please Lord my daughters need me,'” the woman said in her victim impact statement, according to a release from Rocah’s office. “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.”
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
