Overview
- On Thursday May 28, 2026 a judge sentenced Randy Santos to 40 years-to-life in state prison after his February conviction for killing four unhoused men and attacking others.
- A Manhattan jury found Santos guilty on February 19, 2026 of four counts of first-degree murder plus multiple attempted-murder and assault charges after less than a day of deliberations.
- Prosecutors presented surveillance footage and eyewitness accounts showing Santos carrying and using a heavy metal bar to strike sleeping people in Chinatown on October 5, 2019 and in a related Chelsea attack on September 27, 2019.
- Santos’s lawyers argued he has schizophrenia and acted under command hallucinations, while the prosecution said his actions showed awareness and intent; the judge said the case exposed homelessness, substance abuse and mental-health failures.
- Defense attorneys have announced plans to appeal, and the sentence is likely to keep the case in the public eye as officials and advocates press for policy changes in services for homeless people with addiction and serious mental illness.