A Florida court imposed life sentences on 24 June 2026 in the Florida firefighter murder sentencing of Torrey Holston and Jose Garcia Romero, the two men convicted of shooting dead off-duty Coral Springs-Parkland firefighter-paramedic Christopher Randazzo in a 2019 street robbery that netted his iPhone, red Nike sneakers, and a wallet containing $55.
The presiding judge told the court that the jury had been ‘clear and unanimous on the involvement of both.’ Coral Springs FL News reported that the same judge added, ‘Justice has finally run its course,’ as the sentences were handed down.
From a 2019 Killing to the Florida Firefighter Murder Sentencing Seven Years Later
Randazzo, then 39 years old and a firefighter-paramedic with the Coral Springs Fire Department, was found face down outside a resort in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. He had been stripped of his shoes, wallet, car keys, and phone. Holston and Garcia Romero were 19 and 20 years old respectively at the time of the killing.
Jury deliberations began on 21 May 2026, according to Local10, with both men by then aged 26 and 27. They were convicted of first-degree murder, robbery with a deadly weapon, and criminal conspiracy before receiving their sentences at the June hearing, also covered by Local10.
Court records describe how Holston, nicknamed ‘Six,’ told Garcia Romero, nicknamed ‘Cobra,’ before the attack: ‘We can rob him and we can shoot him.’ After firing, Holston said, ‘I think I got him. I saw him slumped over.’ He later boasted to those present, ‘I can’t believe I caught a body.’
Witness Cheyenne Papach, who was present that night and dating an accomplice, testified that Holston was ‘smiling about it’ and that he and Garcia Romero were openly bragging. A separate witness told investigators the two men described themselves as ‘real thugs’ who ‘got guns’ and were not afraid to use them. Before the shooting, Holston had referred to the weapon as ‘my military weapon.’
Accomplice’s Troubled Path Through the Courts
Papach’s boyfriend, Marco Rico, drove the Nissan Sentra in which Holston and Garcia Romero fled the scene. Rico pleaded guilty in 2020 to accessory after the fact and conspiracy charges, but subsequently disappeared before sentencing. EMS1 reported that Rico was later located and held pending sentencing. CBS News Miami reported that Rico, identified as 32 years old at a subsequent court appearance, was held on no bond.
The case against all three men began taking shape when FireRescue1 reported that two men had been indicted for murder and one for conspiracy in connection with the killing of Randazzo, described in those proceedings as a firefighter-paramedic with the Coral Springs Fire Department.
Garcia Romero’s defence counsel, Jim Lewis, indicated after the May 2026 verdict that an appeal was being considered. Lewis argued that trying both defendants together had been a ‘detriment’ to his client, saying: ‘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.’ The prosecution maintained that the jury’s unanimous findings resolved the question of each man’s involvement.
Randazzo left behind colleagues at a department that serves both Coral Springs and Parkland. A woman who found him outside the hotel told a 911 dispatcher: ‘My husband thinks he’s dead.’ The robbery that cost him his life yielded his killers sneakers, a phone, and less than $60 in cash. Subject to any onward appeal by Garcia Romero, both men will remain in custody for the rest of their lives.
