What did Tammel Esco do? Man sentenced to 17.5 years in prison over racial attack against Asian woman in Yonkers

On November 29, Tuesday, 42-year-old Yonkers resident Tammel Esco was sentenced to 17.5 years in prison for what has been deemed a racially driven assault.

The New York Post reported that the attack occurred on March 11 outside an apartment complex where Tammel Esco and the victim were residents. At approximately 6:08 pm, Esco attacked a 67-year-old Asian woman in the vestibule of the building, punching and kicking her before he supposedly spat on her and walked away. As stated by NBC, the victim sustained multiple injuries, including facial fractures and brain bleeding.

Tammel Esco pleaded guilty to the assault in September, admitting that he had made a racial slur before the attack.

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Details of the charges against Tammel Esco

During Tuesday's sentencing hearing, CBS reported that Judge Anne Minihan noted the brutal nature of the Yonkers assault.

She said:

"Mr. Esco, you struck the victim in this case 127 times."

She added:

"When it was done, how exhausted you were. You could see you that you were breathing heavily."

County DA Mimi Rocah described the assault as one of the most brutal in her jurisdiction. She said:

“Today we close a chapter on 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.”

Yonkers authorities echoed this sentiment, stating that they had not seen such an extreme hate crime in the city in roughly 25 years.

Yonkers Police Commissioner Christopher Sapienza said:

“Let this sentence be a clear message to others who would perpetrate violence in our communities, that Yonkers and Westchester law enforcement will commit every resource to hold violent criminals accountable."

As per the Westchester District Attorney's Office, the unnamed victim read a statement to the court describing its long-term effects.

The 67-year-old woman, who is of Filipino origin, said:

“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."

She continued:

“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."

CBS reported that Tammel Esco had been implicated in at least one other assault. In February 2021, he was sentenced to mandatory substance abuse treatment after pushing a woman through a plate glass window.