17.5 years for attacker who punched Yonkers Pinay 125 times
At least 17 years in prison await Tammel Esco, the Yonkers man who punched his Filipina neighbor 125 times on March 11. This is a rare case where an anti-Asian hate crime has reached a resolution and a suspect is put behind bars.
The woman was seriously injured and is recovering for the brutal assault she suffered. She spoke about her ordeal and how her family is coping in a statement issued by the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office.
“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. 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.”
Westchester County District Attorney Miriam Rocah said in a statement this is “one of the most vicious and shocking hate crimes we’ve seen in Westchester County. 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.”
Esco, 42, was indicted on hate crime charges, including attempted murder in the second degree as a hate crime, assault in the first degree as a hate crime, and three counts of assault in the second degree as a hate crime.
The YPD described the attack in a report: “On Friday, March 11th, at approximately 6:11 p.m., members of the Yonkers Police Department Investigation yielded that the victim, a 67-year-old resident of the City of Yonkers, was returning home and saw the suspect in front of the building. As she walked past him, he called her an ‘Asian bitch;’ the victim is of Asian descent. Ignoring his comment, the victim entered the vestibule of the building and was attempting to open the second door to enter the lobby when, without warning, the suspect approached from behind and punched her in the head, knocking her to the floor; he then stood over her and proceeded to punch her in the head and face more than 125 times with alternating fist strikes before foot-stomping her seven times and spitting on her. As a result of the beating, the victim suffered multiple contusions and lacerations to her head and face, facial bone fractures, and bleeding on the brain; she is currently listed in stable condition and is recovering in the hospital.”
Esco is known to law enforcement as having a long rap sheet that includes more than a dozen arrests and convictions.
(C) The FilAm 2022
