LEBANON, Pa. — Note: The video is from June 1.
Lebanon County District Attorney Pier Hess Graf on Friday announced her intention to seek the death penalty against a suspect charged with multiple counts of homicide in connection to the deadly shooting in Lebanon on Tuesday.
Graf's office filed a Notice of Aggravating Circumstances against Alex Torres Santos, 22, for his alleged involvement in a shooting that left two children and a 19-year-old man dead in their city home and a neighbor seriously wounded.
Santos is charged with multiple counts of Homicide, Conspiracy to Commit Homicide, and other firearm-related offenses by the Lebanon City Police Department and the Lebanon County Detective Bureau.
The filing of a Notice of Aggravating Circumstances is statutorily mandated in cases where the prosecution intends to seek the death penalty.
“In my 14 years as a Lebanon County prosecutor and in my nearly four years as the District Attorney, we have not filed a Death Penalty Notice in any case,” Graf said in a press release. “No other murder committed during my time as the D.A. has risen to the specific legal standard necessary to seek death for the killer. This case meets that standard.”
Santos and a juvenile suspect, James Fernandez-Reyes, 16, were arrested in the aftermath of Tuesday's shooting, which left 8-year-old Jesus Perez-Salome, 9-year-old Sebastian Perez-Salome, and 19-year-old Joshua Lugo-Perez dead at the Lebanon home where they all lived.
A 33-year-old neighbor was injured in the shooting as well; the initial investigation determined he was struck by a stray bullet that traveled into his home next door, authorities said.
The investigation determined Santos and Fernandez-Reyes committed the homicides together. Fernandez-Reyes is being charged as an adult in the case.
Police are searching for a third male suspect and a suspect vehicle believed to have been involved in the homicide as well.
Santos has a criminal history with firearms and was out on bail for two separate incidents, authorities said. Despite being out on a $50,000 bail, Santos allegedly wore his house-arrest bracelet to the killings.
Only homicides in which the Commonwealth can prove “aggravating factors” as specified by the legislature are eligible for punishment by the death penalty, Graf said in the press release.
The Notice against Torres alleges five of those statutorily defined aggravating factors, including the multiple nature of the homicides, two victims who were under the age of 12 at the time of their murder, and the grave risk to others posed by the defendant’s actions in a densely occupied city neighborhood.
A death penalty jury trial includes two trial phases, Graf said. In the initial phase, a jury determines whether the defendant on trial is guilty of the crimes charged. If the jury returns a verdict of guilty of first-degree murder, the case proceeds to a second phase for sentencing.
At that time, Graf said, the Commonwealth presents evidence to prove the aggravating factors justifying the death penalty, and the defendant has the opportunity to present evidence of mitigating factors suggesting why he should not be put to death.
The jury then determines if the defendant’s ultimate punishment is life imprisonment or death.
“Many remain critical of the death penalty in today’s world," Graf said. "The process is lengthy and costly. To those who second guess today’s decision, we did not make it easily nor did we take the decision lightly. There are some crimes – crimes like this one where young children were shot to death outside of their home as they innocently played with their kittens – that demand we charge accordingly.”