A Pennsylvania man was sentenced to 23 years to life for gunning down Jorge Vazquez outside a Bethpage hotel over a fight that did not involve him.

Prosecutors' theory is that Santana drove to Long Island to settle a co-worker's fistfight on someone else's behalf. The man whose argument started it, Alexander Garcia, has not been convicted of anything, and his daughter, Jaslynn Garcia, is also charged. Their cases are separate, and Santana's plea is not proof against either of them. Daily Voice and Greater Long Island also differ on one detail: Daily Voice describes Jaslynn as awaiting trial, and Greater Long Island's account mentions only her father's pending case.

Sgroilin Santana, 23, of Tamaqua, Pennsylvania, was sentenced Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, to 23 years to life in prison for the April 2025 killing of Jorge Vazquez outside an Extended Stay America hotel in Bethpage, New York, the Nassau County District Attorney's Office said, as reported by Daily Voice and Greater Long Island. Santana pleaded guilty last month before Judge Robert Bogle to second-degree murder, second-degree attempted murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Daily Voice put the plea date at Sept. 15.

Prosecutors said Vazquez, 35, of Tampa, Florida, was staying at the hotel on Oyster Bay Road while working on a nearby construction project. On April 2, 2025, he got into a fistfight at the job site with a co-worker, Alexander Garcia, 40, of Pennsylvania, whose daughter Jaslynn was Santana's girlfriend at the time, according to the DA's office. That afternoon, prosecutors said, Santana was driven from Pennsylvania to the hotel to retaliate. Around 9:30 p.m., he shot Vazquez multiple times in the torso and abdomen in the parking lot and fired at another man, who was not hit, according to the DA's office. Prosecutors said Santana then fled the state with Alexander Garcia. Nassau police found Vazquez on the sidewalk near the hotel entrance, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

"Sgroilin Santana used cold-blooded violence to settle an argument that did not even involve him and stole the life of beloved husband and father Jorge Vazquez," District Attorney Anne Donnelly said. Greater Long Island reported that Nassau homicide detectives used surveillance video to identify the suspects and that Pennsylvania State Police arrested Santana in Tamaqua on April 30, 2025, before his extradition in May. "The defendant attempted to evade the consequences by fleeing the state, but our commitment to justice does not stop at Nassau County's border," Donnelly said. Daily Voice reported that Alexander Garcia and Jaslynn Garcia are awaiting trial on second-degree murder and conspiracy charges, with court dates listed for Oct. 22 and Oct. 27. Santana's plea resolves only his own case. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.