A Hialeah woman was found kneeling over her ex-boyfriend’s body six years ago, asking for him to wake up. She pled guilty to second-degree murder this week and was sentenced to 25 years in state prison. Karina Corbalan, 30, admitted to shooting 28-year-old Alexis Sanchez several times at the 5600 block of West 21st Street on March 2, 2020, while he sat in front of his own home.
According to NBC 6 South Florida, Corbalan faced a mandatory life sentence if the case went to trial but instead reached an agreement that will sentence her to 25 years in jail followed by 10 years probation. Sanchez, also known as Coco by his family, died after being brought to a nearby hospital, according to the station. Family relatives say he broke his five-year romance with Corbalan shortly before the shooting.
Officers rushed to the incident on March 2, 2020, and saw Corbalan kneeling over Sanchez’s body, shouting “wake up, Alex,” before admitting to detectives that she had shot him during a disagreement, according to WPLG Local 10. Sanchez was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center, the county’s primary Level 1 adult trauma facility, where physicians pronounced him dead from numerous gunshot wounds, according to the same outlet’s story. News footage and police scene images from that day revealed a black Mercedes vehicle with a cracked windshield and bullet holes at the scene, where Hialeah police found the pistol used in the shooting.
Sanchez’s sister, Aymee Sanchez, reported 15 rounds were fired and Corbalan would not stop, according to Telemundo 51, as cited by NBC 6 South Florida. She called Corbalan heartless and wicked. Corbalan was held without bond at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center the day after the shooting and wore a padded suicide-watch safety vest, according to the outlet’s report, while the victim’s mother told the judge that she wanted her son’s girlfriend to pay for the murder.
Corbalan had a prior criminal record in Miami-Dade County, including a 2019 arrest for battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting an officer with violence, which was closed after she completed a pre-trial diversion program typically reserved for first-time nonviolent offenders. A neighbor told CBS Miami that a Ring security camera filmed rapid gunfire outside the home on the day of the shooting and that the pair had a history of violent altercations.
The evening after the shooting, dozens of friends and family members gathered for a candlelight vigil outside Sanchez’s Hialeah house, mourning him and appealing for justice, according to Local 10. In court last week, Corbalan addressed the subject directly, saying, “I loved Alejandro Sanchez.” I apologize. I apologize. “I never wanted to hurt him,” according to NBC 6 South Florida.
The plea agreement reflects the mechanics of Florida’s firearms sentencing laws. Florida Statute § 775.087, the state’s “10-20-Life” law introduced in 1999, states that discharging a handgun during certain felonies that results in death carries a mandatory minimum of 25 years to life in prison, with no judicial option to go lower, according to the Florida Senate. Second-degree murder under Florida Statute § 782.04(2) is a first-degree felony punishable by up to life imprisonment or life on probation, with a minimum sentence of 16.75 years.
These statutory floors help to explain why both sides eventually agreed on a 25-year imprisonment rather than risking a jury trial. According to Diario Las Américas, Corbalan considered the 25-year plea deal in Miami-Dade Circuit Court in order to avoid a trial in which she may face mandatory life in prison. The March 2020 shooting occurred six years ago, and this week’s plea deal brings one of Hialeah’s longest-running domestic violence homicide cases to an end.
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