Avon woman guilty of shooting husband
Cindy Leise | The Chronicle-Telegram
ELYRIA — Pamela Carrasquillo dropped her head Friday and slowly shook it side to side after being convicted of shooting her estranged husband four times in his bed last January.
Carrasquillo, 52, was convicted of attempted aggravated murder and attempted murder, as well as specifications that she used a gun in the crimes.
She faces six to 13 years in prison as a result, and she was taken to jail after Common Pleas Judge James Burge revoked her bond.
As the verdicts were read, two of her children who had testified in her defense, 31-year-old Nathan Carrasquillo and 24-year-old Alicia Carrasquillo, buried their heads in their hands. Tears filled the eyes of other family members and friends who had supported her.
On the other side of the courtroom, Herminio Carrasquillo Jr., 49, solemnly gazed forward, grasping the hand of his girlfriend, Sulane Sciabica, 30.
“I feel OK,” said Herminio Carrasquillo Jr, a supervisor at General Motors who said he still has two bullets lodged in his chest. “It’s getting better.”
He said he wanted to thank the jury, which deliberated about 15 hours over three days. As for how he feels, he said he’ll talk about that at his wife’s sentencing, which will take place in eight to 10 weeks.
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| CHUCK HUMEL / CHRONICLE |
| Pamela Carrasquillo’s family members echo her emotions after she was found guilty of shooting her husband. |
“The sentencing hearing will bring me closure; this is just another step,” he said of the verdict.
His father, Herminio Carrasquillo Sr., said that it was a shame the family members who supported Pamela Carrasquillo during the trial did not intervene earlier.
“Justice was done,” the elder Carrasquillo said. “It was a tragedy for the whole family.”
During the trial, Assistant County Prosecutor Sherry Glass had argued that Pamela Carrasquillo was the only one who had a motive — jealousy and greed — because she would have been the sole beneficiary of her husband’s $500,000 life insurance policy.
The couple’s son, Justin Carrasquillo, 26, who had testified on behalf of the prosecution, said after the verdict that he believed the motive for the shooting “had to do with money.” Another son, Herminio Carrasquillo III, 31, also had backed his father.
The Carrasquillos have been married for more than 26 years, but were living in separate homes at the time of the shooting.
During the trial, defense attorney Raymond Froelich hammered on the fact that Herminio Carrasquillo Jr. gave conflicting accounts after the shooting about whether he could identify his assailant.
At one point, he said he only saw a shadowy figure, but he later told police it was his wife.
Herminio Carrasquillo Jr. said after the verdict that he was trying to protect his children, and he also was embarrassed when he told a doctor and others that he only saw a shadowy figure.
His sister, Sarah Carrasquillo, said her brother told her in a phone call that his wife was to blame.
“He said ‘I can’t believe she did this,’ ” Sarah Carrasquillo said. “In his mind, he thought he was going to die.”
Prosecutors contend Pamela Carrasquillo waited until her daughter left for work before driving a mile and a half to her estranged husband’s home and shooting him at about
3:15 a.m. Jan. 4, 2007.
A single particle of gunshot residue was found on her hands when police tested her about 40 minutes later.
Froelich declined to comment after the verdict, as did Pamela Carrasquillo’s brother, Billy Goins.
Contact Cindy Leise at 329-7245 or cleise@chroniclet.com.
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Filed by Cindy Leise | The Chronicle-Telegram March 21st, 2008 in Top Stories. Popularity: 7% |
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