LANCASTER, Pa. — A Lancaster City man was sentenced to a life sentence without parole, plus 20 months to four years in jail, according to the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office.
A jury convicted Carlos Almanzar-Torres, 23, of first-degree murder and two counts of recklessly endangering another person.
Almanzar-Torres was found guilty by a jury in Oct. 2023 of killing Damian Santiago, 19, inside a Sunoco/A-Plus along the 100 block of West Orange Street on March 14, 2022.
“We are here for the actions of an angry man,” prosecuting Assistant District Attorney CJ Restemayer said during the proceeding. “This is a man who hunted another human being and tried to shoot him five times. He then punched the victim multiple times as he laid dying. On that day, he ended two lives: Damian Santiago’s and his own.”
Restemayer stated that the killing stemmed from a dispute over $50 and a fistfight.
“[The victim] didn’t deserve to die. The [victim’s] family asked for justice and the jury delivered it,” Restemayer said as she acknowledged the full jury box of family members who came in support of Santiago.
Almanzar-Torres was also convicted of recklessly endangering two Sunoco/A-Plus employees present during the killing, adding to the 20-month to 4-year sentence.
President Judge David Ashworth noted that it was unusual for Almanzar-Torres' presentence investigation packet to be so thin with no prior record, considering the crime he was convicted of.
“This situation was entirely and completely avoidable and entirely and completely unnecessary,” Ashworth said.
Almanzar-Torres and his defense counsel declined to make a statement during the hearing.
