A defense lawyer cited Ricky Colon’s military service before the court imposed a life sentence.
OSWEGO, N.Y. — Ricky Colon was sentenced to 25 years to life for murdering Rachel Allen after a hearing that weighed brutal crime-scene evidence against defense claims about war trauma.
The sentencing before Oswego County Supreme Court Justice Armen Nazarian brought two narratives into conflict. Prosecutors said Colon’s actions showed cruelty, deception and no remorse after he beat Allen to death with a cast-iron stove grate. The defense asked the court to consider Colon’s military service during the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and the post-traumatic stress disorder his attorney said followed him home. Nazarian rejected any claim that Colon’s background reduced his responsibility and imposed the maximum sentence on the murder count.
Defense attorney Michael Spano used the hearing to describe Colon as a man changed by war. He said Colon’s brother had written that Colon was once happy and smiling but returned from service profoundly different. “Judge, he entered the service one person and came back a different person,” Spano said. The argument had limits. During the trial, the court did not allow the defense to tell jurors about Colon’s PTSD diagnosis, despite repeated efforts. By sentencing, the jury had already convicted Colon of second-degree murder, assault, criminal possession of a weapon and tampering with physical evidence in Allen’s death.
Assistant District Attorney Louis Mannara urged the judge to focus on Allen and the evidence rather than Colon’s explanations. Mannara said Colon had been given an attorney, a fair trial and room in court even when he disrupted proceedings. He argued that Colon showed Allen no mercy and should receive none from the court. Prosecutors also challenged Colon’s reliance on alcohol and PTSD, saying neither explained away the evidence that Allen was beaten, moved, left in a shower area and then falsely described to 911 dispatchers as an overdose victim. Nazarian agreed, saying Colon tried to use those issues as a shield from responsibility.
The killing happened July 13, 2024, at Colon’s home at 30 W. Schuyler St. in the city of Oswego. Authorities were first called for a welfare complaint involving an unconscious woman who needed medical attention. The Oswego Fire Department arrived and reported Allen dead. Police then began an investigation with support from the New York State Police, the Oswego County Sheriff’s Office and the Oswego County District Attorney’s Office. The case developed around the home, the condition of Allen’s body, the broken weapon and Colon’s statements after the killing.
At trial, prosecutors said the stove grate broke into several pieces during the attack. The medical examiner found that Allen died from blunt force trauma and suffered 58 external injuries and 13 internal injuries. First responders who knew Allen said they could not recognize her. Nazarian used those findings to explain why he viewed the killing as one of the most “brutal and disturbing” crimes he had seen. “The sheer violence required to inflict those injuries demonstrates an astonishing level of cruelty,” the judge said. He also cited an insurance report that put cleaning services at the crime scene above $20,000.
Colon’s post-killing conduct became a central part of the state’s argument for the maximum sentence. Prosecutors said he moved Allen’s body and burned her clothes before calling 911. While speaking with dispatchers, he said Allen had died of a drug overdose. The judge said the scene did not support that claim. Nazarian also said Colon washed blood off himself while Allen’s body was in the shower area, calling it a final act of callousness. Those details led the court to conclude that Colon was not merely trying to understand a death, but trying to hide his role in it.
The case also included cellphone videos that prosecutors said Colon recorded inside the residence after Allen was dead. In the videos, he appeared blood-covered, crying and incoherent. In one, he said he found Allen dead and declared himself innocent. He spoke about wanting to call police before later saying he believed his life was over. Prosecutors described the recordings as “extremely bizarre.” Nazarian focused on a video in which Colon said he found Allen after waking from a nap, treating it as another effort to distance himself from the killing. The videos gave the court direct evidence of Colon’s words in the period between the violence and the emergency call.
The hearing itself became disorderly as the judge described the evidence. Colon interrupted Nazarian with an obscenity-filled statement and said he had not received a fair trial because he was not allowed to testify on his own behalf. Deputies removed him from the courtroom and took him to a holding cell for the remainder of the proceeding. Nazarian continued despite a defense objection. He returned to Colon’s presentence report, including Colon’s claim that he had provided alcohol to Allen to save her from withdrawal symptoms. The judge noted that Colon made the claim about the same day he killed her.
The sentence included more than the murder count, though the murder term controls Colon’s prison exposure. Nazarian imposed 25 years to life for second-degree murder, 25 years for assault and shorter sentences for criminal possession of a weapon and tampering with physical evidence. The judge ordered all terms to run concurrently. That means the sentences run at the same time, but Colon still faces a life maximum. The sentencing followed the February jury verdict announced by Oswego County District Attorney Anthony J. DiMartino Jr., who said the verdict brought justice for Allen and some sense of closure for her family.
Nazarian’s final explanation rested on public safety and rehabilitation. He said Colon had made no real effort to address substance use or mental health problems and refused to acknowledge his role in Allen’s death. “The defendant who absolutely refuses to acknowledge his role in his own horrific actions is a defendant who can’t be rehabilitated,” Nazarian said. He added that Colon’s lack of remorse and proven capacity for explosive violence made him a continuing danger. In the court’s view, the defense account of a damaged veteran did not outweigh the evidence of an intentional killing and the conduct that followed it.
Colon’s sentence closes the trial-court phase of Allen’s killing, though appellate steps could follow. The public record now shows a July 2024 emergency call, a February 2026 conviction and an April 2026 life sentence, with Colon ordered to serve at least 25 years in state prison.
Author note: Last updated May 7, 2026.