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Jun 25, 2026

Pals seen 'smiling' after killing a firefighter for an iPhone and Nikes sentenced to life

Twitter share button Insets, left to right: Jose Garcia Romero, Christopher Randazzo and Torrey Holston (Instagram/Coral Springs Fire Department/Broward County Sheriff's Office). Background: The area where Florida firefighter Christopher Randazzo was found face down with no shoes, wallet, keys, or phone after being shot and killed (WPLG/YouTube).

Insets, left to right: Jose Garcia Romero, Christopher Randazzo and Torrey Holston (Instagram/Coral Springs Fire Department/Broward County Sheriff's Office). Background: The area where Florida firefighter Christopher Randazzo was found face down with no shoes, wallet, keys, or phone after being shot and killed (WPLG/YouTube).

Two young Florida men will spend the rest of their lives in prison for killing an off-duty firefighter for his iPhone, Nike sneakers and wallet. The pals applauded each other after the slaying for how they "caught a body," with a witness saying she saw them "smiling about it."

"I think the jury was clear and unanimous on the involvement of both," the judge overseeing Torrey Holston and Jose Garcia Romero's murder case said in court at the pair's sentencing on Wednesday. They were both given life sentences after being convicted in May of murder.

Holston and Garcia Romero were 19 and 20 years old, respectively, when they shot Coral Springs-Parkland firefighter Christopher Randazzo dead outside a resort in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea seven years ago.

The duo went on trial in May for the deadly 2019 robbery. Court records viewed by Law&Crime describe how the two young men left Randazzo — a 39-year-old "firefighter/paramedic," according to CSFD officials — face down with no shoes on after killing him for his "red Nike sneakers," iPhone, and wallet, which had $55 inside. They also swiped his car keys.

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"I can't believe I caught a body," Holston boasted after the slaying, according to witness Cheyenne Papach, who was also present and dating an accomplice who was with the two men. The local independent station WPLG covered her testimony.

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