‘Justice — finally.’ Pines woman now free two years after ‘self-defense’ shooting
A woman who faced time behind bars for a 2023 Pembroke Pines shooting she claimed was “self-defense” against rape has been cleared of her charges, according to court records.
Esther Sanon’s felony counts of aggravated battery with a firearm, which was demoted from attempted first-degree murder, shooting into a vehicle and unlawfully carrying a concealed firearm were dropped by a Broward court Thursday, Dec. 11, following the discovery of her alleged victim’s, lengthy rap sheet.
Jason Sapp, a 44-year-old from Lauderhill, was found to have been previously arrested on several charges, including human trafficking and lewd and lascivious acts with a victim between 12 and 16.
The Dec. 11 ruling signaled the end of Sanon’s two-year legal battle — in which the 21-year-old served three months in jail and two years on house arrest — sparked by an online dating meetup gone sour.
The night of the shooting
Sanon was an 18-year-old high schooler when Sapp, then 42, picked her up from the parking lot of her Pembroke Pines apartment complex, the Advenir at San Tropez, on April 10, 2023.
The two first connected months earlier via BLK, a dating app for Black singles, eventually taking to phone and video calls, court records reveal.
Both later told police wildly different accounts about what happened after the teen girl entered Sapp’s van.
“This guy just tried to kidnap me and rape me. ... I have knots on my head and my mouth is busted,” Sanon told a 911 operator between sobs after running away from the 42-year-old.
Sapp also dialed 911, but under the name Antonio, reported the Miami Herald, a sister publication of the Pembroke Pines News. He told operators that Sanon refused to get out of his car, denying any threats “to rape Sanon.”
Officers arrested Sanon the following day on several charges, including premeditated attempted murder. In the arrest report, Sapp added that though he was frustrated at her for being on her phone when in the van, she angrily shot him in the right shoulder after he allegedly denied her $300.
“This was a deeply flawed investigation by the Pembroke Pines Police Department that nearly destroyed an 18-year-old’s life,” Sanon’s lawyer, Adam Goodman, told the Miami Herald.
“When a young woman calls 911 to report an attempted sexual assault, law enforcement has an obligation to treat her report with urgency, preserve evidence, and follow the facts objectively — not default to treating her as the suspect.”
For Sanon, who had accepted a plea deal that would’ve led to six years of probation, the faulty proceedings altered the course of her young adult years.
“I didn’t get the chance to live my life the way I wanted to,” she told the Herald.
A history of aggression
Sapp’s April 2023 run-in was just one of several encounters with a woman turned aggressive, court records show.
In 2014, a then-33-year-old Sapp was arrested after a strong-arm robbery after meeting an 18-year-old high schooler in Tamarac under the promise of giving her money in exchange for sex, records show.
He arrived empty handed, according to a deposition, leading to an argument in which he “grabbed her by the throat, knocked her to the ground, and took her cell phone before fleeing.”
“We investigated and learned this same man had previously been arrested for robbing another 18-year-old who wouldn’t have sex with him,” Goodman said in a statement posted to Instagram Dec. 13. “We brought that to the State Attorney’s Office (not Miami). The response: ‘She has a week to take a plea.’”
Soon after, Goodman and Sanon learned that Sapp was already behind bars for a more recent offense.
“In July, investigators discovered that Sapp had sent a 14-year-old girl sexually explicit messages and met with her in person on several occasions, according to a warrant obtained by the Herald in a public records request,” the Miami newspaper reported on Dec. 12.
Sapp had chatted with the young girl through several apps, met with her in person on several occasions and offered her money in exchange for sexual acts with one of his friends.
In the warrant acquired by the Herald, the minor told the nurse conducting her sexual assault exam that her and the 44-year-old “had sexual contact with Sapp around five times.”
Sapp was booked into the Paul Rein Detention Facility on Nov. 4 and remains there as of Dec. 16. He faces one count of human trafficking, two counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a victim between 12 and 16 and two counts of traveling to meet a minor.
His attorney did not respond to the Pembroke Pines News’ request for comment.
“Justice — finally. But the emotional toll this put on [Sanon] never should have happened,” Goodman said in his Instagram post.
This story was originally published December 16, 2025 at 1:56 PM.
