NEW YORK CITY — Randy Santos was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison for killing four sleeping homeless men in New York City. He was convicted in February of first-degree murder for bludgeoning the men to death with a metal bar as they slept on city streets.

Santos was also convicted of attempted murder for assaults that left two other men severely injured. The victims were identified as Florencio Moran, Nazario Vásquez Villegas, Anthony Manson, and Chuen Kok, who ranged in age from 39 to 83. No friends or relatives of the victims appeared in court to deliver victim impact statements during the sentencing.

Before announcing the sentence, Judge Laura A. Ward reviewed surveillance video of the attacks, which showed Santos repeatedly lifting a 4-foot metal bar over his head and striking one victim. “I had a difficult time getting past the fact that Mr. Santos targeted the most vulnerable people in our society. People who were doing nothing but sleeping on the street, homeless,” Ward said. She described the case as the “coming together of three horrible symptoms of this city: homelessness, mental illness and narcotics abuse.”

Santos addressed the court in English, saying, “I just want to say, I’m very sorry for what I did. I apologize to the people for what I did. I feel very bad about what I did. I wish it never happened.” He told the judge his mind “is much better now” with daily medication and pleaded for a sentence short enough to allow him to “be somebody” after prison. Santos also promised to use his time in prison to finish school, improve his English, and learn a trade.

Chinatown activist Karlin Chan, who arranged victim Chuen Kok’s funeral and attended the hearing, said the sentencing gives the community closure. “He knew what he was doing,” Chan said, dismissing Santos’ apology as performative. “At the end of the day here, he's going to a place where he deserves to be: jail.”

Prosecutors had requested a sentence of 50 years to life. Santos’ defense team had argued unsuccessfully at trial that his schizophrenia, diagnosed months before the killings, rendered him not criminally responsible and that he should be sent to a psychiatric facility instead of prison. Since his arrest, Santos has moved between jail and psychiatric treatment facilities.