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'Ambien' defense murder: Haverstraw man gets 20 years to life

Nixon Bourguignon killed his son's mother.

Steve Lieberman
slieberm@lohud.com
Nixon Bourguignon is sentenced at the Rockland County Courthouse Feb. 5, 2016, for murder of girlfriend Shannon Coleman.

A Haverstraw man apologized Friday before being sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for the 2014 murder of the mother of his son he professed to love and couldn't live without.

Nixon Bourguignon, 38, was sentenced in Rockland County Court, where a jury convicted him last year of fatally strangling Shannon Coleman after she revealed she was leaving him. He had tried to pin his defense on the sleeping aid Ambien, saying it turned him violent and he doesn't remember killing the 29-year-old Coleman in their Haverstraw apartment.

"I am sorry that I took her away from everybody," Bourguignon said in court Friday. "I hate myself. I wish every day I could switch places with Shannon. I love Shannon very much."

Shannon Coleman

Two of Coleman's siblings spoke at the sentencing and described how difficult the situation is for her two children, including a son she had with Bourguignon. They said the children wish they could go back in time to be with their mother, who worked for Bardonia Pediatrics and was well-known for the personal touch she gave children and parents.

"She had the ability to light up a room with her presence," said Lamar Taylor, Shannon's brother. "We've been in disarray with the loss of Shannon. It's very difficult to speak to her children, who ask questions about their mother."

Sophia Coleman speaks before Nixon Bourguignon was sentenced at the Rockland County Courthouse on Feb. 5, 2016, for the murder of her sister, Shannon Coleman.

Sophia Coleman cried as she spoke about her younger sister, who she said helped Bourguignon get a job and his citizenship.

"Even if you gave him a million years it will never bring her back," she told Supreme Court Justice William Kelly.

Bourguignon faced a minimum of 15 years and a maximum of 25 years to life for second-degree murder.

Kelly said it was a difficult sentence because he had to balance the prosecutors' request for the maximum with Bourguignon's lack of a domestic violence record and good standing with the families before the homicide.

Kelly said he did not think it was an intentional murder, but Bourguignon likely couldn't accept that Coleman was leaving him..

Kelly told the courtroom that no one gets early release on their first request on a murder conviction. He said a 20 year sentence is more like 24 years even if parole is approved, and there's no guarantee of early release.

In October, a jury rejected Bourguignon's defense argument that Ambien caused him to brutally strangle and torture the mother of his young son.

Bourguignon killed Coleman inside their apartment at the MountainSide complex the night of May 7, 2014. In addition to their son together the couple also had been raising Coleman's son from an earlier relationship. The children were sleeping nearby when the killing occurred.

Rockland District Attorney Thomas Zugibe said Bourguignon "tortured her to death."

"He didn't just kill her," Zugibe said, "he totally dominated and controlled her. He strangled her, stopped, and, when she regained consciousness, he strangled her again. She was aware of what he was doing. He committed the ultimate act of domestic violence."

Prosecutor Dominic Crispino told the judge that Bourguignon used such force that he broke a bone in Coleman's neck. He said Coleman had taken Ambien that night and Bourguignon turned violent because of her decision to break off their relationship and because the father of Coleman's older son was back in her life.

Defense attorney David Goldstein told the judge that Bourguinon was hard-working and took care of the two boys. Goldstein said both families were close before Coleman's death.

He asked Kelly for a sentence of 15 years to life, calling that  "extremely lengthy."

Goldstein blamed Ambien for Bourguignon's actions and said he felt the jury erred in convicting him of murder.

"Violence is a horrible side effect of this drug," Goldstein told jurors in his closing statement. "You can take it for five years and nothing will happen but bang, then it can happen. It was his hands, not his mind, that killed her."

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