Two convicted of murder in 2019 robbery and killing of Coral Springs firefighter
Two men accused of robbing a Coral Springs firefighter of his phone, wallet and shoes, then returning to the scene to kill him, have been convicted of murder charges.
A jury found Torrey Holston and Jose Garcia Romero guilty of murder in the fatal shooting of Christopher Randazzo in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea nearly seven years ago, WPLG reported.
The convictions carry an automatic sentence of life in prison.
“We’re ecstatic. We’ve been waiting since October 2019 for some justice. It’s been a long wait,” Bobby Randazzo, brother of Christopher Randazzo, told Local 10.
Firefighter and paramedic Christoper Randazzo, 39, wrote that he was “fulfilling his lifelong dreams” when he was hired to the Coral Springs-Parkland Fire Department in March 2019.
He served with the agency for seven months, during that time helping save a child’s life, before he was fatally shot outside the Southern Seas Resort on Oct. 19, 2019.
He was last seen alive at around 1 a.m. that morning leaving the Aruba Beach Cafe, where he worked for nearly two decades before becoming a firefighter, the Miami Herald reported.
Deputies with the Broward Sheriff’s Office said that while Randazzo was intoxicated, Holston and Romero, 19 and 20 at the time, respectively, stole his shoes, a knife, his iPhone, his car keys and a wallet containing $55, leaving him alive.
But Randazzo’s phone was passcode-protected, so the men went back to where they had left him to demand he unlock the phone, CBS12 and the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported from court documents. When Randazzo didn’t, they shot him, according to deputies.
Holston and Romero were charged with first-degree murder, robbery with a firearm and conspiracy, along with a third man, Marco Rico, who was identified by deputies as the getaway driver. He pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact to murder and criminal conspiracy.
Romero’s attorney, Jim Lewis, told Local 10 that trying Romero and Holston together hurt his client’s case, as he accused Holston of being the shooter.
“We had always asked to be separate. Jose Romero was never alleged to carry a gun in this incident. The co-defendant was, so to some extent we paid the price,” Lewis said.
Neither defense attorney responded to the Coral Springs News’ requests for comment at the time of publication.