CORAL SPRINGS, FL — Nearly seven years after an off-duty Coral Springs firefighter was shot to death outside a Lauderdale-by-the-Sea resort, two men with Palm Beach County ties will spend the rest of their lives in prison.
A Broward County judge sentenced Torrey Holston and Jose Garcia Romero to life on June 24 for the October 2019 murder of Coral Springs Firefighter-Paramedic Christopher Allen Randazzo. A Broward jury convicted both men in May, and the first-degree murder convictions carried mandatory life sentences. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty.
The case has stretched across both counties from the night of the shooting, drawing in detectives from the Broward Sheriff's Office, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, and Lantana Police.
What happened in 2019
Randazzo, 39, was a Pompano Beach resident and a member of the Coral Springs Fire Department. He was off duty on Oct. 19, 2019, when he was killed outside the Southern Seas Resort at 4520 El Mar Drive in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, according to the Broward Sheriff's Office.
BSO identified the three suspects as Holston, who was 19 at the time, Romero, then 20, and Marco Rico, then 32. All three had Palm Beach County ties.
Prosecutors alleged Randazzo was robbed after leaving the Aruba Beach Cafe area. Investigators said his phone, sneakers, wallet, and keys were taken and that he was shot in the back of the head near the resort.
Holston and Romero were charged with first-degree murder, robbery with a deadly weapon, and conspiracy. Rico pleaded guilty to accessory-related charges, according to court records.
The Lauderdale-by-the-Sea homicide did not stay in Broward County for long. BSO homicide detectives worked with Lantana Police and the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office on the arrests after investigators connected the killing to an attempted murder investigation underway in Palm Beach County on the same night, according to BSO.
That cross-county investigation is how Holston, Romero, and Rico were identified and taken into custody.
Coral Springs Fire Department response
Coral Springs Fire Chief John Whalen released a statement on the day of the sentencing, posted to the department's official Facebook page on June 24.
"For nearly seven years, the men and women of our fire department family have carried the weight of losing Chris," Whalen said, according to the post. "Nothing that happened in court today changes the fact that a good man was taken from his family and from his fire department family. But there is some comfort in knowing justice has finally run its course."
Whalen said the department continues to grieve with Randazzo's family and to remember "the firefighter, friend, and person he was."
Steve Randazzo, Chris' father, thanked those who supported the family during what he called "a time of unimaginable loss" and wrote that "justice has prevailed." Other commenters acknowledged the outcome while questioning how long the case took to reach sentencing.
Readers can follow all local updates in our Coral Springs News section.
