A witness at the trial of two Florida men charged in a 2019 murder said Tuesday that one of the defendants gloated after the victim was dead.
Christopher Randazzo, 39, a Coral Springs-Parkland firefighter, was killed in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea in 2019.
Torrey Holston, 26, and Jose Romero, 27, are on trial for his death.
On Tuesday, Cheyenne Papach testified that on the night of the murder, she, the two suspects, and Marco Rico, her then-boyfriend, were at Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, according to WPLG-TV.
She said that she and Rico had sex on the beach, while Holston and Romero were elsewhere.
“I know Jose and Torrey were walking the streets while Marco and I were on the beach,” she said.
Papach said Holston had a gun. She testified that Holston and Romero said they had robbed someone, getting an iPhone and the victim’s shoes.
She testified that Holston and Romero went back to get the password for the phone from the victim.
Randazzo was on the ground, not fully coherent, and claimed Holston shot him.
Afterward, she said Holston appeared pleased.
She recalled that Holston said “I can’t believe I caught a body” and was “smiling about it.”
Prosecutors said the suspects stole $55, sneakers, and an iPhone from Randazzo.
Holston and Romero were charged with first-degree murder, robbery with a deadly weapon, and conspiracy.
On Monday, a detective with the Broward Sheriff’s Office testified in a court session that he saw evidence from Randazzo’s body introduced that had the suspects’ DNA on them, according to WPLG-TV.
According to Law&Crime, Randazzo was indeed found without his red Nike sneakers, car keys, iPhone, and wallet with $55 in it.
Rico pleaded guilty in 2020 to being accessory after the fact, as well as to conspiracy charges. He was the driver of the vehicle in which Holston and Romero fled after the shooting.
“Papach told the detectives that Six and Cobra stole from a guy they found sleeping on some steps, and that she had heard one shot when victim Christopher Randazzo passed away,” a court filing said.
Holston was known as “Six,” and Romero as “Cobra.”
Police were told that Holston and Romero called themselves “real thugs” who “got guns” and were not afraid to use the weapons.
Before the shooting, Holston allegedly said of Randazzo, “We can rob him and we can shoot him.”
“I think I got him,” Holston allegedly said after the shooting. “I saw him slumped over.”
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