Namel Colon, 39, will spend the next 25 years in prison following his guilty plea to first-degree manslaughter for fatally shooting Jennifer Ynoa inside a Brooklyn smoke shop, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced July 15.
Ynoa, 36, was inside Salim Smoke Shop at 488 DeKalb Ave. in Bedford-Stuyvesant with her dog, Blue, on Jan. 2, 2022, when, at approximately 9:45 p.m., Colon, a Lower East Side resident, exited his vehicle, crossed the street, walked into the store and opened fire, striking the mother of four in the torso, according to surveillance video.
Ynoa, who had no connection to Colon, was rushed to The Brooklyn Hospital Center, where she was pronounced dead. Colon also killed her dog.
At the time of the shooting, a second person was present in the store, and investigators believe that individual may have been the intended target.
Colon fled the scene but was apprehended by members of the NYPD Violent Felony Squad on Feb. 22, 2022, and charged with murder and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon.
On June 9, 2025, Colon pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter. Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Phylis Chu sentenced him to 25 years in prison on July 15.
“This defendant brazenly opened fire into a store open to the public, killing a completely innocent woman and endangering everyone inside,” Gonzalez said. “Today’s sentence ensures he is held accountable for this outrageous act of violence and reflects the seriousness of the harm he caused.”
