A Pennsylvania man has learned his fate after being convicted of killing his girlfriend before barricading himself inside his home and firing dozens of shots at police, authorities said.
On Monday, April 14, Miguel A. Rodriguez, 40, was sentenced to life in prison without parole, plus an additional 41.5 to 85 years in connection with the 2022 shooting death of 33-year-old Nemesis Florentino, the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
After a five-day trial in February, a jury found Rodriguez guilty of first-degree murder, assault of a law enforcement officer with a firearm, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and obstruction of the administration of law, per the release.
On Sept. 11, 2022, Rodriguez shot Florentino two times in the head before taking a video of her dead body to show a friend, prosecutors said.
Officers who responded to the shooting, which occurred inside Rodriguez’s East Hempfield Township home, were met by gunfire from Rodriguez, per the release.
Prosecutors said Rodriguez shot more than 100 rounds inside and outside his home, resulting in a nearly five-hour standoff. It ended when Rodriguez stepped outside with a loaded semi-automatic rifle and pointed it at police, compelling an officer to shoot him in the arm.
The officer’s use of force was deemed justified following an investigation into the shooting, prosecutors said.
Assistant District Attorney Kyle Linardo described Rodriguez’s actions as “a particularly heinous” crime to which the mandatory life sentence was not enough to account for the “devastation and damage” and “assault on decency” that happened, per the release.
Speaking through an interpreter, Florentino’s mother read a letter to the court describing the “endless pain” she has experienced since her daughter’s death and asked the court to impose “justice for a mother who lost her child.”
She remembered her daughter as a “loving, kind-hearted” person with a “radiant spirit” who enjoyed helping others and had many goals in life, the release states.
Florentino was a native of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and was one semester away from obtaining her associate’s degree, according to her obituary shared by Lancaster Online.
Rodriguez also spoke at the sentencing hearing, telling the court he was “very remorseful for what happened” and asked for forgiveness from the victim’s family, per the release. He also claimed he was “blinded” by drugs at the time.
Judge Craig Stedman said Rodriguez is an “extreme danger to the community,” per the release.
“Society needs to be protected from you,” the judge said.
In addition to his sentence, Rodriguez was also ordered to pay more than $24,000 in restitution for the victim’s funeral costs.