Gov. Healey opposed Jose Colon parole request in George Hanna loss of life – NBC Boston
Gov. Maura Healey stated she has submitted a proper letter to the state Parole Board urging them to disclaim parole for the person serving a life sentence for his function within the homicide of a Massachusetts state trooper over 40 years in the past.
Jose Colon is eligible for parole attributable to a latest change in Massachusetts legislation following a Supreme Judicial Courtroom ruling that “rising adults” can’t be sentenced to life with out parole.
Colon was 20 years previous when he shot and killed Trooper George L. Hanna on Feb. 26, 1983, in Auburn. Hanna had pulled over a automobile with three males and two ladies inside and ordered them out of the car for questioning. Colon, one of many individuals within the automobile, shot Hanna six instances, and later that evening at a Worcester hospital, forsaking a spouse and three kids.
Colon is at the moment serving a life sentence however will obtain a listening to earlier than the Parole Board on Thursday.
Healey submitted a letter to the board this week expressing her opposition to Colon’s launch, citing the profound and lasting hurt he inflected on Hanna’s household, the legislation enforcement neighborhood and the state as an entire.
Yearly, Massachusetts hosts an awards ceremony in Hanna’s identify to publicly acknowledge the bravery of members of the legislation enforcement neighborhood.
“Trooper Hanna’s household has continued to honor his legacy in a deeply tangible method. His daughters, Deborah and Kimberly, nonetheless current the awards in his identify, holding their father’s reminiscence central to the Commonwealth’s recognition of braveness and dedication in legislation enforcement. For the previous 10 years, I’ve personally sat with Deborah and Kimberly on the Hanna Award ceremony and have witnessed the ache they proceed to endure due to their father’s brutal homicide,” Healey wrote. “Massachusetts rightly holds Trooper Hanna’s identify as a logo of honor and valor. Releasing the person who fired the photographs that killed Trooper Hanna would diminish the which means of the very legacy we proceed to uphold and would ship a harmful sign that deliberate killing of a police officer is something lower than probably the most heinous of crimes.”
Boston, MA – November 26: Kimberly Hanna, left, and her sister Deborah Hanna participated within the awards ceremony named for his or her father. The forty first Annual Trooper George L. Hanna Memorial Awards for Bravery are held within the Home Chamber of the Massachusetts State Home. (Photograph by Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe through Getty Photographs)
In her letter to the Parole Board, Healey emphasised the gravity of the crime, the magnitude of its hurt, and the enduring public significance of Hanna’s legacy. She urged the board to rigorously think about the total and lasting impression of the offense on the sufferer’s household, the legislation enforcement neighborhood and public belief.
