A crying Coleman kept saying “no, no, no” as she was taken into custody and jailed.
Wall said that Coleman, while having no previous felony convictions, had faced charges of disorderly conduct, domestic violence and violating a temporary protection order.
“You continue to prey on victims,” Wall said. “You have an innocent victim, someone who took his own life due to your actions.”
Those speaking for the victim said he was a veteran who worked as a nurse and had a love for other people and animals, including cats he rescued. He suffered from social anxiety, they said. His sister said Coleman needed to understand “a life is gone to the games that she played.”
Police said the man met Coleman on an adult dating site. Text messages he left for police led them to her.
After initial exchanges with the man, Coleman started posing as the “mother” of what she claimed had been a juvenile corresponding with the victim. She extorted money from him by repeatedly threatening to make the correspondence public.
According to the investigation report, the man left a suicide note along with his phone, which was filled with the pair’s correspondence. He said to check “my screen shots about the lying,” and said the woman “completely ruined my life.”
Coleman told the family and friends in the courtroom that she was sorry. Public defender John Herndon said she was “deeply remorseful. She is young, she made a horrible mistake” and had no expectation what would happen, he said.
Wall sentenced Coleman to complete five years of probation, serve 30 days in the county jail, perform 100 hours of community service and to undergo mental health and substance abuse assessments. She was ordered to maintain full-time employment following jail release and to pay $5,699 to cover the victim’s funeral expenses.
Contact this contributing writer at nancykburr@aol.com
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