LANCASTER, Pa. — Note: The video is from March 15, 2022.
A Lancaster man was convicted Wednesday of shooting and killing another man inside a convenience store in the city last year, the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office announced.
Carlos Almanzar-Torres, 22, faces a mandatory sentence of life without parole for killing 19-year-old Damian Santiago inside a Sunoco/A-Plus store on the 100 block of West Orange Street on March 14, 2022, prosecutors said.
Assistant District Attorneys Courtney Restemayer and Kyle Linardo prosecuted the case and presented evidence and testimony, including a video from inside the convenience store that showed the killing, the DA's office said.
“He was intending for a fight, instigating a fight,” Restemayer said during her closing argument. “He brought a gun to a fistfight, and he made sure that fight ended in murder.”
The jury deliberated for 53 minutes before returning its verdict Wednesday, agreeing with the prosecutor's contention that he maliciously and intentionally killed Santiago -- factors needed for a first-degree murder conviction, according to the DA's office.
The trial lasted three days.
During the trial, prosecutors showed a five-minute video of footage taken from inside and outside the store where the shooting occurred.
According to the evidence, Almanzar-Torres and Santiago both arrived at the Sunoco/A-Plus around 10 p.m. on the night of the shooting. The video showed them arguing outside of the gas station, which eventually continued into the store.
Almanzar-Torres had allegedly loaned the victim money for a phone bill, which hadn’t been repaid.
As the argument continued into the store, Santiago punched Almanzar-Torres in the head, causing them both to fall to the floor. The fighting continued and a shot was fired from Almanzar-Torres’ firearm, which he admitted to firing in a subsequent interview with police.
The stray bullet went through Almanzar-Torres’ sweatshirt and lodged into a freezer in the store.
Both men returned to their feet, with Almanzar-Torres possessing the firearm and Santiago moving toward the back of the store, attempting to evade the defendant. Almanzar-Torres is seen on video trying to unjam the firearm while tracking the victim up and down aisles.
Once he unjammed the gun, Almanzar-Torres moved parallel to Santiago with an aisle separating them. He raised the gun over the aisle and fired a single shot, which hit Santiago in the shoulder, went through his lung, and stopped in his heart, according to testimony from the forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsy.
The Lancaster County Coroner’s Office determined the cause of the victim’s death to be a gunshot wound to the chest and the manner to be homicide.
The defendant then punched the victim multiple times after he collapsed before leaving the store, fleeing back to his apartment and initially getting his passport.
About an hour after the incident, Almanzar-Torres turned himself in at the Lancaster City Bureau of Police Station with his arms raised, stating he wanted to speak with police and that there was a firearm in the front seat of his car parked outside.
Police recovered the firearm in Almanzar-Torres’ vehicle and sent shell casings and rounds recovered in the Sunoco/A-Plus to the state police lab for testing.
Testimony and evidence showed the casings and rounds matched Almanzar-Torres’ firearm.
Two store clerks were present inside the Sunoco/A-Plus at the time of the shooting, hence the recklessly endangering another person counts.
Lancaster City Bureau of Police Detective Ryan Burgett was the lead investigator in the case, testified, and attended the entirety of the trial.
Almanzar-Torres will be sentenced at a later date.