Man convicted of shooting paralyzed woman in Fresno in 2021

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

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

“It is explainable. It’s just evil,” said Judge Alvin Harrell, adding that it was one of the worst cases he has ever presided over.

Regan, now paralyzed from the chest down and in a wheelchair, was present in court to give her own account of the incident.

“Mario Colombo followed me to work that day, while I was at a traffic light he got out of his car and shot me multiple times,” Regan said.

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

Colombo said he struggled with alcohol and drug use.

“Sir, honestly, you are a danger to society. What you did is simply no excuse,” Harrell said.

But Colombo offered an apology and blamed the court for not forcing him into rehab.

“I violated the criminal protection order six times without arrest in hopes of being accepted into a court-ordered program,” Colombo said.

Unacceptable for Judge Harrell.

“Anyone who would do what you did is consciously doing what you did. A program wouldn’t stop you,” Harrell said.

Colombo will serve a 34-year to life sentence for attempted murder.

The verdict came more than three years after the day that changed her life, and yet it brought some closure for Regan.

“Even in my daily struggles and struggles, the only thing I have is freedom. Freedom from Mario. Freedom knowing that in the end justice has been served,” Regan said.

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