Pennsylvania man gets 23 years to life for killing construction worker outside Bethpage hotel

A Pennsylvania man who drove to Long Island to settle a score for his girlfriend’s dad —and gunned down a Florida father outside a Bethpage hotel in the process — will spend at least 23 years behind bars.

Sgroilin Santana, 23, of Tamaqua, Pennsylvania, was sentenced Wednesday to 23 years to life in prison for the April 2025 killing of Jorge Vazquez.

Santana had pleaded guilty before Judge Robert Bogle last month to second-degree murder, second-degree attempted murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

“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,” Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said.

Vazquez, 35, who was form Tampa, Florida, was staying at the Extended Stay America hotel on Oyster Bay Road in Bethpage while working on a nearby construction project, prosecutors said.

On April 2, 2025, Vazquez got into a fist fight with a co-worker at the construction site, Alexander Garcia, 40, of Reading, Pennsylvania. Garcia’s daughter Jaslynn, now 20, was Santana’s girlfriend at the time, according to the DA’s office.

That afternoon, Santana was driven from Pennsylvania to the Bethpage hotel, planning to retaliate against Vazquez, prosecutors said.

About 9:30 p.m., Santana shot Vazquez multiple times in the torso and abdomen in the hotel parking lot, Donnelly said. He also fired at another man, who was not hit, prosecutors said.

Santana then fled the state with Alexander Garcia, according to the DA’s office.

Nassau Police responding to an emergency call about the shooting found Vazquez lying on the sidewalk near the hotel entrance. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Detectives with the Nassau Police’s Homicide Squad used surveillance video and other evidence to identify the suspects.

Working with the Pennsylvania State Police and the Tamaqua Police Department, investigators tracked Santana to Tamaqua on April 30, 2025. State troopers arrested him, and he was extradited to Nassau County 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. “He will now serve the lengthy prison sentence his violent and cowardly actions deserve.”

Pennsylvania State Police also arreted Garcia extradited him to Nassau County. He is awaiting trial on charges of second-degree murder, second-degree conspiracy and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

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