A Pennsylvania man out on bail for two previous shootings is now facing three murder charges in the slaying of two young boys who were murdered in their backyard while playing with their new kitten.
Alex Torres-Santos, 22, was wearing a GPS ankle monitor when he opened fire on a home in Lebanon around 10 p.m. Wednesday, killing 19-year-old Joshua Lugo-Perez and fatally striking 8- and 9-year-old brothers who were all on the back porch at the time of the shooting, according to court documents obtained by Fox News Digital.
Lugo-Perez was apparently the target. He was not related to the two boys but was staying with the family. A 33-year-old neighbor was struck by a bullet that entered his home. He was rushed to the hospital and survived.
According to the Lebanon County District Attorney's Office, one of the suspects of Tuesday's triple-homicide, Alex Torres-Santos, has a violent criminal history.
A criminal complaint states Santos was out on bail after his involvement in shootings on January 17 and February 7. pic.twitter.com/I4JiM2ySdb— Josslyn Howard (@JosslynWGAL) June 1, 2023
Lebanon County District Attorney Pier Hess Graf blamed the presiding judge.
Torres-Santos was arrested in January and again in February for allegedly shooting the same man both times. He was out on bail and wearing an ankle monitor, which police used to track his whereabouts at the time of Wednesday’s triple murder.
Hess Graf’s office had requested $100,000 bail in each case, but a judge set it at just $50,000 and ordered an ankle monitor bracelet, she said.
“[Torres-Santos] wore his bracelet to the homicide,” Hess Graf said in a statement Thursday. “The location monitor and minimal bail imposed by the judge thus served as no deterrent to a violent criminal willing to take a life.”
According to court documents, the GPS data showed Torres-Santos left his home at 9:42 p.m., lingered near the crime scene a few minutes around 10 p.m. and returned home about 20 minutes later.
“Until the criminal appreciates the true outcome of the taking of a life – spending the rest of his own locked into a cell – nothing will change,” Hess Graf said.
Criminal justice reform advocates would disagree. In fact, they claim that locking Torres-Santos away doesn’t do any good — at least for the child-killing murderous thug.
I remember the last great wave of “criminal justice reforms” that are eerily like the current spate of “Let’s coddle the criminal because it’s not really their fault” mouthings from liberals. The “reforms” led to the most violent crime wave in American history — much worse than the crime wave we’re seeing today, although, for some cities, it’s never been as bad.
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It’s not like Torres-Santos didn’t give authorities plenty of opportunities to take him off the streets for a very long period of time. He “has a slew of prior charges in addition to the two shootings earlier this year, including drug dealing, driving without a license and possession of a weapon with its serial number removed,” according to Fox.
We must come to an agreement as a society that there are simply some people who cannot function and should not be allowed to live in a civilized society. What’s “civilized?” A society where ordinary people of all colors, all nationalities, and every ethnicity are allowed to exist without fear of sudden death from people who don’t care about other people’s lives, and violating that rule gets the perpetrator locked away for a very long time so they can’t hurt anyone again.
It’s not asking a lot that the laws already on the books be enforced. If they were, those two kids playing with their new kitten on their porch would have a chance of growing up. Not a certainty. Just a chance.
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