On May 28, 2026, a Manhattan courtroom sentenced Randy Santos, 31, to a term of 20 years to life for the 2019 murders of four sleeping homeless men in Chinatown. The verdict concluded a trial in which Santos claimed a delusional compulsion to kill, a defense that the judge ultimately rejected in favor of a lengthy prison term.

The 2019 Chinatown muredr spree of four homeless men

According to the court record, the attacks occurred in the early hours of a summer night in 2019, when Santos allegedly beat the victims while they slept on the streets of Manhattan’s Chinatown. All four victims were identified as homeless individuals with no known connection to Santos.. The killings intensified public concern over safety in the city’s most densely populated neighborhoods.

Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s push for a 20‑to‑life term

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office argued that the brutality of the crimes warranted the maximum penalty permissible under New York law. as the DA’s press release noted, the prosecution highlighted the victims’ vulnerability and the premeditated nature of the assault, seeking a sentence that would reflect “the gravity of taking four innocent lives.” The judge ultimately imposed the 20‑years‑to‑life range, aligning with Bragg’s recommendation.

Santos’s claim of psychosis and promise to study behind bars

During sentencing, Santos, through a Spanish interpreter, told the court that a delusional belief that he needed to kill 40 people to survive had driven his actions. His defense attorneys, including Arnold Levine, said daily medication had stabilized his condition and that Santos intended to use his incarceration to finish his education, improve his English, and learn a trade. The judge acknowledged the mental‑health claim but emphasized that it did not excuse the murders.

Missing voices:families and activists left unheard

The courtroom was notably empty of relatives or friends of the four victims. A Chinatown activist who had helped arrange one of the funerals sat silently in the gallery, underscoring the community’s sense of loss and the systemic neglect of homeless populations. No family members were present to deliver impact statements, a fact highlighted by reporters covering the trial.

Unverified claim of a 40‑victim delusion

The defense’s assertion that Santos believed he must kill 40 people remains uncorroborated by psychiatric experts in the public record. While the attorneys cited medication as evidence of improvement, the court did not release an independent evaluation confirming the extent of his delusion. This gap leaves open the question of whether the mental‑health narrative was a strategic legal maneuver.