Man Guilty of Bludgeoning Four Homeless Men to Death in Manhattan's Chinatown

A Manhattan jury found Randy Rodriguez Santos guilty of first-degree murder for the 2019 bludgeoning deaths of four homeless men who were sleeping on sidewalks in Manhattan’s Chinatown, concluding the attacks were intentional and came in rapid succession. The 12 jurors deliberated for less than a day and also convicted Santos on attempted murder counts for two other men who were severely injured; a sentencing hearing is set for April 16, 2026 and Santos faces life in prison.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg Jr. framed the killings as targeted and swift, saying, “A jury determined that Randy Santos knowingly and purposefully murdered four men with a metal bar in the span of less than 30 minutes. They were strangers to him, and simply happened to be sleeping on Chinatown sidewalks that horrific night.” Prosecutors built their case around that timeline and the brutality of the attacks, seeking to rebut the defense’s claim of legal insanity.

Prosecutors told jurors that the October 2019 Chinatown assaults occurred around 2 a.m. and followed an earlier incident in September near the Hudson River that they described as a “trial run.” In that earlier episode, prosecutors said Santos beat a man with a stick and tried to throw him into the water before witnesses intervened. Accounts of the weapon used in Chinatown vary in descriptions in the record - one account described a 15-pound metal bar, another described a heavy metal pipe - but all sources referenced a metal object used to repeatedly strike sleeping victims.

The four men who were killed were identified in court filings and reporting as Chuen Kok, Anthony Manson, Florencio Moran and Nazario Vásquez Villegas; coverage noted the slain men ranged in age from 39 to 83 and were sleeping on Chinatown sidewalks when attacked. Two additional men were left with severe injuries and prosecutors secured attempted murder counts tied to their assaults. Images and memorials from October 2019 include NYPD investigators on the scene and a makeshift memorial photographed on Oct. 18, 2019 for one of the victims.

Randy Rodriguez Santos, 31, Dominican-born and homeless at the time of the attacks, showed no visible reaction as he heard the verdict through Spanish-language interpreter headphones. Defense lawyers conceded Santos pummeled the defenseless victims and intended to kill but argued he was too mentally ill to be held criminally responsible. Defense attorney Arnold Levine told jurors Santos “might have recognized he could land in legal trouble but couldn't appreciate that what he was doing was morally wrong.”

The Legal Aid Society indicated it will appeal. Spokesperson Redmond Haskins said, “While we respect the jury’s verdict, we disagree with it. We will appeal and continue fighting on Randy’s behalf. There is no dispute that Randy has suffered for years from schizophrenia, including on the nights of these tragic events.” The conviction and the 2019 killings have renewed scrutiny of how city agencies serve people with serious mental illness and protect a growing unhoused population, a policy debate expected to reappear at Santos’s April 16 sentencing.