A New York jury found Randy Santos guilty of first-degree murder on Thursday in the 2019 Chinatown killings of four men who were sleeping on city streets, rejecting his insanity defense. Jurors deliberated for less than a day before returning the verdict, according to the statements made by prosecutors and the Manhattan district attorney’s office after court concluded.
Santos’ legal team conceded that he pummeled the victims with a metal bar and intended to kill them, but argued that schizophrenia made him unable to avoid criminal responsibility. Prosecutors, by contrast, said Santos took steps during and around the attacks that showed he understood what he was doing and that it was wrong, even if he also suffered from mental illness.
The case involved the deaths of four men identified in court as Chuen Kok, Anthony Manson, Florencio Moran and Nazario Vásquez Villegas, who were described in the prosecution case as sleeping on Chinatown sidewalks when Santos attacked. In their closing argument, prosecutors argued the rapid sequence of the attacks and Santos’ conduct supported a finding that he acted with intent and awareness.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement that “A jury determined that Randy Santos knowingly and purposefully murdered four men with a metal bar in the span of less than 30 minutes. They were strangers to him and simply happened to be sleeping on Chinatown sidewalks that horrific night.” The statement said the jury’s decision rejected Santos’ insanity defense.
In court, prosecutors pointed to alleged evidence of awareness, including accounts that Santos sometimes looked for potential witnesses and made remarks they said showed he knew the October 2019 attacks were illegal and immoral. Prosecutors also described what they characterized as a “trial run” in a September 2019 beating and argued Santos shed clothing after the attacks, which they said reflected an effort to conceal wrongdoing.
Santos, 31, showed no reaction as he heard the verdict, according to the reporting. The Legal Aid Society, which represented him, said it would appeal, and it said there was no dispute that Santos had suffered for years from schizophrenia, including during the nights of the attacks.
The defense presented schizophrenia and related delusions as central to the insanity theory, and it said Santos believed he had to kill 40 people or would be killed himself. In his summation, Legal Aid lawyer Arnold Levine said, “He believed, sincerely, he had to kill 40 people or be killed,” adding that “Psychosis replaced Randy’s moral judgment.”
The prosecution emphasized that Santos was diagnosed with schizophrenia before the killings but did not take prescribed medication or seek treatment, and the defense had argued those circumstances contributed to the insanity defense. Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Alfred Peterson maintained that Santos “knew exactly what he was doing that night, despite his mental illness,” and prosecutors argued the jury could conclude that Santos still understood the nature and wrongfulness of his actions.
The killings prompted scrutiny in New York City of challenges around aiding and protecting a homeless population that had reached record size, according to reporting in the case coverage. Then-Mayor Bill de Blasio said the violence shook “the conscience of who we are as New Yorkers.”
In addition to the first-degree murder conviction, the jury also convicted Santos of attempted murder and assault charges, the reporting said. Santos faces a potential life sentence, and sentencing is set for April 16.
MSI previously reported that Randy Santos raised an insanity defense at trial in a case involving killings of four men with a metal bar, and the jury’s rejection of that defense now sets up the next phase for sentencing and appeal.