Woman gets 8 years in prison for robbing three Pueblo students at gunpoint
PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) - In August of 2022, three South High School students were walking home from school and were robbed at gunpoint. Now, one of the suspects involved in that armed robbery faces eight years in prison.
According to court documents, 19-year-old Amour Velazquez and two males took the students' backpacks, shoes, and phones. In 2022, Velasquez told police she committed the robberies because she was "broke." She claimed she originally asked the students for money, but they didn't have any. That's when she said she chose to steal their shoes, phones, backpacks, and computers.
The students told police Velasquez said they were going to "run" their "stuff." One of the male suspects then pressed a gun into one of the victim's chest.
The court documents state Velasquez was driving a Toyota Rav-4, reported stolen from Colorado Springs at the time of the robbery.
According to the arrest affidavit, the high school students told police they didn't know the suspects. After the robbery, Velasquez reportedly "apologized" and "dabbed them up," "dabbed up" being slang for giving a handshake, per court records.
Velasquez was originally charged with aggravated robbery, motor vehicle theft, and multiple counts of a restraining order violation.
Tuesday, Velazquez took a plea agreement and plead guilty to attempted robbery, a class 4 felony. She was facing five to 16 years in the Department of Corrections (DOC). The judge ended up sentencing her to eight years in prison.
Velazquez's defense claims she has been facing serious mental health challenges, alleging that her father was abusive and that she was taken to a hospital four times for "serious self-harming behavior" before the age of nine years old. The defense also claimed Velazquez struggled with drugs since she was 13.
At her sentencing Tuesday, Velazquez told the judge she regrets what she did.
After the court proceedings, KRDO spoke with the mother of one of the victims.
Sabrina Valdez said she was watching her son and his friends walking down her street when she saw a red car pull up and speak to them. Moments later, her son came running home to tell her he had just been robbed at gunpoint by the people inside the car.
Valdez said her son is still traumatized about what happened. She explained she is frustrated that Velazquez did not receive the maximum sentence of 16 years for what she did to her son and his friends.
"My son has a hard time wearing his Jordans," said Valdez. "I understand it's materialistic things, but it's messed with them mentally."
KRDO reached out to the 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office on where the two other male suspects stand. We have not heard back.
