By Mackenzie Stafford
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PUEBLO, Colorado (KRDO) — In court on Dec. 2, Romello Hernandez entered a guilty plea to attempted murder.
Hernandez was accused of shooting a 13-year-old girl in the head near the Pueblo Riverwalk, leaving her with life-threatening injuries.
In the courtroom, the judge explained to Hernandez that with this guilty plea, he could face 1-6 years in the Youthful Offender System (YOS) or 10-30 years in a state prison. The defense representing Hernandez is now working to see if he would be accepted into the YOS. The family of the young girl, Diamond Sanchez, who was shot, is pleading that Hernandez not be accepted.
“It’s a blow to the heart knowing that he gets to walk away after six years, if he gets this youthful offender program and my daughter has to suffer the rest of her life, the rest of her life, she has to suffer just to try to live every day, to feel normal,” explained the girl’s father, Dominic Sanchez.
He says he thanks God every day that his daughter Diamond is alive and with them. But, he also says he would never wish for anyone to get the call at 6 a.m. to find their child in a coma in the hospital.
“I don’t wish it on any parent to feel what I’ve had or feel the heartbreak that she has to see me go through, the endless nights I’ve made my mom stay up crying, pouring our hearts out, waking up out of a dead sleep, thinking it was just a nightmare. I don’t wish that on anybody. And at the same time, I want to apologize to all those parents who have lost their children at the hands of careless violence and careless acts of violence that shouldn’t be happening in our community,” explained Sanchez.
Sanchez says it’s still hard to fathom everything their family has been through in addition to the road ahead. On top of that, he says it’s unimaginable that Hernandez could be walking free from the YOS within a handful of years.
“My daughter was 13 years old, fighting for her life at Children’s Hospital. She had to celebrate her 14th birthday while in a hospital bed, undergoing multiple surgeries. And these nights that I would wake up screaming from the bottom of my soul for my daughter at the fact that she had been shot in her head,” Sanchez continued, “I just don’t see how the court system would allow for this 18-year-old adult to leave and get screened for youth offender services. When he did it, he intentionally did it. He had no remorse. No remorse for my 13-year-old daughter when he shot her.”
Now it’s up to the Colorado Department of Corrections (CDOC) to decide if Hernandez is eligible for the YOS. If CDOC says he is, the court can still rule that Hernandez is sentenced as an adult, where he’d face 10-30 years in prison. Hernandez is set to be sentenced on January 22.
The Pueblo Police Department previously stated that the incident occurred near the riverwalk, approximately 102 S. Victoria Ave. According to the department, they were sent out just before 3 a.m. on July 14 because a teen was at the hospital after being shot.
KRDO13 obtained an arrest affidavit pertaining to Hernandez’s arrest that details a gathering at the parking lot near the riverwalk.
Diamond’s mother was not available for an interview, but asked us to share her written statement to the court. You can read the statement below.
Your Honor,
As you know, I am Diamond’s mother, and today I am begging with all of me for justice for my child. I never imagined my life would come to this moment. My heart is shattered, yet I thank God every single day that my daughter is still alive. She survived what should have been fatal, and now she must survive the lifelong consequences of an adult’s deliberate choice to harm her.
On the day she was shot, my 13-year-old baby underwent five life-threatening surgeries before I could even understand what was happening. Three of her teeth had been violently lodged into her throat from the force of the bullet. And despite everything the surgeons worked so hard to repair, a bullet remains permanently embedded in her head — a piece of metal she will carry for the rest of her life, a constant reminder of the moment her childhood was taken from her.
I am providing the court with a photograph taken after she was flown to Colorado Springs for emergency care. If the court does not allow the photo itself, I ask that you consider the reality it represents.
Imagine, if you will, being at work and receiving the worst call a mother can receive — the call that your child has been shot. Imagine scrambling to understand anything through the panic, racing to the hospital, praying you will arrive before it is too late. And then imagine walking into a room and seeing your baby — your child — lying unconscious, her small, frail body surrounded by tubes, wires, machines, monitors, and medical staff fighting to keep her alive.
Her chest rising only because a machine helped it rise. Her heartbeat sustained and monitored because her body was too weak to do it on its own. Her face swollen, pale, and motionless. Her tiny body dependent on life-support equipment because without it, she may not have survived.
No mother should ever walk into a room and find their child like that. That moment will haunt me for the rest of my life. That image — whether seen in the photo or felt through these words — is the truth of what was done to her.
And the nightmare is far from over. Diamond still needs another major surgery in January to reconstruct the bone in her mouth. She now lives with a disability. She carries trauma, panic, anxiety, and fear every day. She moves differently. She thinks differently. She no longer feels safe anywhere. She wasonly 13 years old, yet she carries a weight that no adult should bear.
What makes this even more terrifying is what happened after the shooting. Romelo himself bragged about what he did as if it was a funny joke to his co-workers and his peers threatened to “finish her off.” Those were terrifying threat words directed at my child — even after nearly killing her.
Following that, Diamond’s cousins/my nieces received additional threats from his friends or family members. These threats made one thing painfully clear: There was no remorse. No regret. No accountability. Only more intimidation, more violence, and more intent to harm a child who had barely survived.
And throughout this entire court process — from the day he shot my daughter up to this very moment — Romelo has never shown even the smallest ounce of remorse. Not one apology. Not one apology letter. Not one word acknowledging the devastation he caused. Not a single sign that he feels even halfway bad for what he did to a 13-year-old child. His silence has been absolute, and that silence has been its own kind of cruelty. It has only deepened our fear and confirmed that he does not care about the pain, suffering, and permanent harm he inflicted.
This is why we cannot support a 6-year YOS sentence.
Romelo is not a suitable candidate for the Youthful Offender System. YOS is meant for young offenders who show genuine potential for rehabilitation, remorse, and change. But at 18 years old — a legal adult — he made an adult decision when he deliberately aimed a gun at a 13-year-old child and pulled the trigger. And instead of showing any form of remorse afterward, he celebrated and bragged about what he had done to his peers And the violent threats to “finish her off,” his friends and family to continue threatening my daughter and her cousins, and has gone through this entire court process without ever acknowledging the devastation he caused. These are not the actions of someone seeking rehabilitation. These are the actions of someone who remains a danger to society. Because of his choices, his lack of remorse, and the fear he continues to cause, he should face adult consequences, not be given the privileges of a program he has not earned.
A six-year YOS sentence does not come close to reflecting the lifelong damage done to my daughter. It does not acknowledge the surgeries, the disability, the trauma, the fear, the threats, or the ongoing suffering. Six years would be a short chapter in his life — but it is a life sentence for her.
YOS is built on rehabilitation. But my daughter cannot rehabilitate the bullet embedded in her skull. She cannot rehabilitate the bone that must be surgically rebuilt. She cannot rehabilitate the fear she wakes up with. She cannot rehabilitate the memory of lying unconscious in a hospital bed, or the memory of him threatening to kill her again.
For him, six years would mean a second chance. For my daughter, nothing will ever be the same again. There is no program, no treatment, and no amount of time that can give her back the childhood he stole.
This was not a youthful mistake. This was a deliberate act by an 18-year-old man who shot a 13-year-old child and then continued to threaten her life. The ongoing intimidation from those around him, along with his complete lack of remorse throughout every stage of this process, only reinforces the danger he poses.
For these reasons, we are begging for the maximum sentence of 30 years in the Department of Corrections. Not out of anger — out of protection. Protection for Diamond, for her siblings,for her cousins, for her family, and for a community that is living in fear. The lifelong consequences he caused demand lifelong accountability.
Your Honor, I ask you to see my daughter not as a case number, but as the fragile child in that Colorado Springs hospital bed — kept alive only by machines — and as the 14-year-old girl she is today, living every day with trauma, disability, and fear she never deserved.
Please give my daughter the justice she deserves.
Respectfully, Diamond’s Mother Desiree
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