Elyria man gets prison for July 2021 murder on Apple Avenue in Lorain

Sebastian Fleckenstein was sentenced Friday to spend at least the next 18 years in prison after being convicted in the July 2021 murder of Heriberto Laboy-Sanchez in Lorain. Retired Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Thomas Pokorny, sitting in for Judge Mark Betleski for health reasons, granted Fleckenstein, 23, of Middle Avenue, the possibility of parole after 18 years at a sentencing hearing in Lorain County Common Pleas Court. "I've found you've lost your way as far as common decency, and common respect for the safety and the welfare and just … life of other people here. You don't have a proper appreciation for it," Pokorny told Fleckenstein. The judge called the murder "inexplicable": Fleckenstein was not provoked and not in danger from Laboy-Sanchez, who was unarmed when he was shot and killed on Apple Avenue in Lorain the night of July 2, 2021, Pokorny said. He ordered Fleckenstein to pay Maria Sanchez $4,181 in restitution to cover the cost of her son's funeral — though there's "no likelihood of him ever paying it," the judge said. Fleckenstein also will be added to Ohio's Violent Offender Registry upon release from prison, a database available only to police. Pokorny said he would appoint an attorney to handle Fleckenstein's appeal. A jury convicted Fleckenstein of murder, involuntary manslaughter, felonious assault, discharging a weapon on or near prohibited premises, tampering with evidence and having weapons under disability as well as firearms specifications and repeat violent offender specifications following a trial that ended June 24. He was found not guilty on another murder charge, and felony charges of obstruction and receiving stolen property. Laboy-Sanchez, 29, of Lorain, was found dead in the street in the 2300 block of Apple Avenue after Lorain police officers responded to a report of gunfire. The Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force arrested Fleckenstein 11 days later. He had been on parole since February 2021 on felonious assault and aggravated riot convictions in Stark County in 2017, crimes for which he served four years in prison. Prosecutors don't have to present a motive to obtain a conviction, and didn't do so in this case. Chief Assistant Prosecutor Chris Pierre, who tried the case along with Assistant Prosecutor Matthew Kern, said that during Fleckenstein's brief time in the community and while on parole, the defendant "chose to continue to engage in illegal and violent activity" with guns. Fleckenstein had bragged about shooting another person in Elyria and threatened to shoot another person 15 minutes before he shot and killed Laboy-Sanchez, Pierre said. The court heard evidence Fleckenstein "continued to engage in illegal activity" after the shooting, "bragged about his crime, and vowed to stay dangerous while mocking the pain that was displayed by Heriberto's family during a vigil," he said. Fleckenstein "showed no remorse, and shows no remorse for his crimes now, rather celebrates them," Pierre said. Maria Sanchez said she has "not been calm for a single day since my son's life was taken from me," according to a statement she wrote that Pierre read to the court. Her mental health has suffered, her blood pressure is "out of control" and she is taking psychiatric medication, she wrote. "My other children and I feel that no amount of time is enough," Maria Sanchez wrote. And while she said she is "not the one to judge anyone," she wrote that she wants Fleckenstein to pay for her son's death. "I hope justice is done," Maria Sanchez wrote. "We miss him a lot." Defense attorney Anthony Nici asked Pokorny to give his client the minimum sentence allowed, saying he has "always showed great remorse" and was "in actual fear" at the time. He didn't shoot anyone before shooting Laboy-Sanchez, and text messages presented as evidence at trial were misleading or "mischaracterized," Nici said. Fleckenstein said he felt threatened and did what he had to do to survive. He also turned and apologized to the Sanchez family, saying he had "no hate in his heart" toward Laboy-Sanchez. "No matter what has been said about me, I am not a killer. I am not a murderer," he said. "I would never just randomly shoot an innocent person." Fleckenstein told the court he didn't know Laboy-Sanchez was coming over as he sat on his grandmother's porch, talking with his stepfather. "I can tell you I was genuinely in fear for my life," Fleckenstein said. "I realize most people do not grow up or live in environments where you really have to look at everybody as a potential threat." "With all the drugs, shootings and robberies that take place in my neighborhood you have to be ready to defend your life at all times. And no matter what happened in my past, I still have the right to defend myself," he said. Fleckenstein said he hopes to become a better person while in prison. "I didn't go looking for trouble that night. I didn't go out looking for a regular person to hurt. That is not me," he said. "Anybody who knows me knows I am not that type of person. … I am innocent and I hope one day the truth will come out." Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com or on Twitter @daveobrienCT.