MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – As a 23-year-old woman accused of fatally shooting a 28-year-old man appeared in front of Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Mindy S. Glazer on Tuesday, a mother was sobbing in the courtroom.
Karina Vanessa Corbalan was wearing a bulky safety smock. Prisoners who are on suicide watch usually wear the sleeveless nylon garment. She fatally shot her boyfriend Alejandro Sanchez, police said.
“I want to see her pay for what she did to my family,” the victim’s mother told Glazer through tears, as she held a white rosary.
On Monday, officers reported finding Corbalan kneeling over Sanchez. They were in the parking lot of a home at 5680 W. 21st St., according to Sgt. Ibel Perez, a spokesman for the Hialeah Police Department.
At the crime scene, there was a parked black car with a shattered windshield and a firearm. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue personnel airlifted Sanchez to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center where doctors pronounced him dead.
Neighbors said Sanchez and Corbalan had a very troubled relationship.
Tuesday night, Sanchez’s family lit candles in his memory, a simple gesture to remember the man they called Coco.
“My son, my Coco, is gone, and I’ll never seen him again,” said Amy Sanchez, Alejandro’s mother.
Dozens of friends and family showed up for an emotional night of remembrance at the very same spot he was killed a day before.
“She shot by the back like 15 times, three of them hit him, and I want her to pay for that,” Sanchez said. “I want to be involved in everything because I want to see her pay for what she did to my family.”
Local 10 has learned that Corbalan and the victim were no longer dating.
“I think she’s a sick person,” said Sanchez. “And she needs to pay for that.”
Court records show Corbalan had a violent history. She was arrested last year for battery on a law enforcement officer and for resisting an officer with violence. The case was closed after she completed a pre-trial diversion program.
Officers detained Corbalan on Monday and she was booked at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center about 1:50 a.m. on Tuesday.
Corbalan is being held without bond and she is facing a charge of second-degree murder with a weapon.