Alejandro Sanchez was a 28-year-old Hispanic man from Hialeah, Florida, remembered on a memorial page as a provider and the "best son uncle." Friends and family also knew him by the nickname "Coco." His life was cut short in a violent encounter outside his home on March 2, 2020.
That Monday morning, neighbors near the 5600 block of West 21st Avenue heard shouting and yelling, possibly an argument, followed by the sound of gunshots. One neighbor’s daughter heard the loud noise and went outside to see Sanchez running before he collapsed on the ground. She rushed to his side and called his mother. Emergency services airlifted Sanchez to Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center, but he succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead.
Hialeah Police arrived at the scene and arrested Sanchez’s 23-year-old ex-girlfriend, Karina Vanessa Corbalan. Investigators recovered the gun used in the shooting and took Corbalan into custody.
A neighbor recalled the heartbreaking scene when Sanchez's mother arrived, crying out, "You kill my son," and trying to wake him.
Corbalan was charged with one count of second-degree murder. During a bond court hearing the next day, Sanchez’s mother emotionally addressed the judge. “She took my son’s life,” she said. “She shot my son in cold blood. She deserves to pay for that.” The judge found probable cause for the charge and ordered Corbalan to be held without bond.
The case concluded when Karina Corbalan pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. In August 2026, she was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the killing of Alejandro Sanchez.
