60°
Yonkers resident Tammel Esco, age 42, was sentenced to 17 and a half years in prison on Tuesday, Nov. 29 for the hate crime, according to Westchester County District Attorney Miriam Rocah.
On Friday, March 11, around 6:07 p.m., Esco yelled at the victim, who is of Filipino descent, called her an "Asian bitch," and then approached her from behind as she entered the vestibule of her apartment building in Yonkers on Riverdale Avenue and knocked her to the ground by punching her in the head, the DA's Office said.
Esco then proceeded to punch the woman around 125 times, stomped her upper body with his construction boots, and then spit on her, according to court documents.
The Yonkers Police Department then arrested Esco soon after the attack, which was captured on security footage, according to the DA's Office.
The woman was taken to Westchester Medical Center after the attack, where she was treated for bleeding on the brain, facial fractures, and bruising and cuts to her head and face, according to Rocah.
Esco pleaded guilty to first-degree assault as a hate crime on Tuesday, Sept. 27, the DA's Office said.
"Today we close a chapter on one of the most vicious and shocking hate crimes we’ve seen in Westchester County," Rocah said, also saying, "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."
"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 victim of the attack said in her impact statement, which she read during an appearance in court.
After his prison term is complete, Esco will also have five years of supervised release, according to the DA's office.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Poughkeepsie and receive free news updates.
