Man sentenced in 2021 Fresno shooting that paralyzed woman

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The man who shot a woman in northeast Fresno several times in July of 2021 was sentenced in a Fresno County court Wednesday.

Mario Colombo pled guilty to shooting Jennifer Regan while she was stopped at an intersection in her car.

"It's explicable. It's flat out pure evil," said Judge Alvin Harrell, adding it was one of the worst cases he's ever presided over.

Regan, now paralyzed from the chest down and in a wheelchair, was present in court to detail the encounter herself.

"Mario Colombo followed me to work that day, when I was at a stoplight, he got out of his car and shot me several times," said Regan.

She and Colombo briefly dated. She had a protective order against him at the time of the attack.

Colombo said he was struggling with alcohol and drug-use.

"Sir, quite frankly, you're a danger to society. What you did, it's just, there's no excuse," said Harrell.

But Colombo did offer an excuse, placing blame on the court for not forcing him into rehab.

"I violated the criminal protective order six times without an arrest, hoping to be put into a court-ordered program," said Colombo.

Unacceptable for Judge Harrell.

"Anyone who would do what you did, consciously do what you did. A program was not going to stop you," said Harrell.

Colombo will serve 34 years to life in prison for attempted murder.

The sentence came more than three years since the day that changed her life, yet it brought some sort of closure to Regan.

"Even through my daily battles and struggles, the one thing I do have is freedom. Freedom from Mario. Freedom knowing that in the end, justice has been served," said Regan.

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