Randy Santos was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison Thursday for the October 2019 killing of four men as they slept on the streets of Manhattan’s Chinatown neighborhood, in a sentencing hearing at which no victim impact statements were delivered because no friend or family member of the victims was present in the courtroom.
“There are no victim impact statements here today. There’s nobody here to tell this court about their lives and how their absence is a loss,” Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Alfred Peterson told Judge Laura A. Ward, his delivery halting and emotional at times, according to the Associated Press’s account of the hearing. “But I’m certain this court and this city understands the value of every life, and the gift of life that we’re afforded to live and make choices and have free will. That gift was taken away by Randy Santos.”
The victims — Florencio Moran, Nazario Vásquez Villegas, Anthony Manson, and Chuen Kok — were beaten to death with a metal bar in the early hours of October 5, 2019, as they slept in separate locations around the Bowery. At the time, Santos was living in a homeless shelter. He also attacked a fifth man earlier that night who survived.
Santos pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in March. On Thursday, his defense attorney, Arnold Levine, told the court that Santos had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and that the psychosis he experienced drove the violence. Santos himself spoke briefly, according to the AP, saying, “I want to say I’m sorry for everything that happened.”
Judge Ward imposed the sentence of 40 years to life in prison.
The absence of anyone to speak on behalf of the victims was a focal point of the hearing. For victims of violence who live on the streets, the thread between their lives and the institutions that process their deaths can be threadbare; no next-of-kin notification reached the courtroom, and the men’s stories were told only by the prosecutor who prosecuted their killer.
“Randy Santos ended the lives of four innocent people who were in the most vulnerable position imaginable — sleeping on the street — with no one to protect them,” Manhattan District Attorney David Hernandez said in a statement after the sentencing. “While nothing can undo the harm that Mr. Santos caused, today’s sentence ensures he will be held accountable for his horrific actions.”
The AP reported that Santos will be eligible for parole when he is in his sixties.