Randy Santos was convicted of first-degree murder for a psychosis-fueled rampage through Manhattan’s Chinatown nearly seven years earlier. On sentencing day, no friends or relatives appeared to provide victim impact statements for Florencio Moran, Nazario Vásquez Villegas, Anthony Manson, and Chuen Kok. Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Alfred Peterson told the judge that no one was present to describe the victims’ lives or their loss. Santos sat between court-appointed lawyers, listening through headphones as an interpreter translated the proceedings. He pleaded for a shorter sentence, saying his mind was “much better now” with daily medication, and promised to finish school, improve his English, and learn a trade. He apologized for what he did.
"“There are no victim impact statements here today. There's nobody here to tell this court about their lives and how their absence is a loss,” Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Alfred Peterson told Judge Laura A. Ward. “But I'm certain this court and this city understands the value of every life, and the gift of life that we're afforded to live and make choices and have free will,” Peterson said, haltingly and emotionally at times. “That gift was taken away by Randy Santos.”"
"Santos, convicted in February of first-degree murder, sat solemnly between his court-appointed lawyers, listening through headphones as a Spanish interpreter translated the proceeding. A Chinatown activist who arranged Kok's funeral watched quietly from the courtroom gallery, a few feet from Santos' family. Addressing the court in English, the 31-year-old pleaded for a sentence short enough to allow him to “be somebody” after prison."
"He told the judge that his mind - which his lawyers said had deluded him into believing he had to kill 40 people or would die himself - “is much better now” with daily medication. And he promised to use his time in prison to finish school, improve his English and learn a trade. “I just want to say, I'm very sorry for what I did,”"
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