West Hempfield Township man sentenced to two life sentences without possibility of parole, 20 to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to shooting two people to death, wounding another
A West Hempfield Township man was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole followed by 20 to 40 years in state prison after he pleaded guilty today to shooting his estranged wife and sister-in-law to death and seriously wounding his son after a weekend argument turned violent.
Judge Jeffrey Conrad sentenced Santiago Payano-Sanchez, 64, after he pleaded guilty Jan. 30 to two counts of criminal homicide and one count each of attempted criminal homicide, aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children and possession of an instrument of crime.
Payano-Sanchez shot all three victims at his residence in the 2100 block of Oak Hollow Drive the evening of Oct. 5. Payano-Sanchez’s estranged wife, Ana Gutierrez-Cedano, 59, and her aunt, Dominga Cedano-Cedano, 74, were killed in the shooting.
A third victim, Payano-Sanchez’s 33-year-old son, was shot in the stomach but survived the incident.
Assistant District Attorney Jessica Collo, who prosecuted the case, told the court that the shooting unfolded after a “senseless” household argument over who would make dinner that escalated into a “heinous crime” when Payano-Sanchez retrieved a gun and shot the wheelchair-bound Gutierrez-Cedano.
But the violence continued, Collo said, as Payano-Sanchez shot his son as he tried to wrestle the gun away from him, leaving him with bullet fragments that remain in his body to this day. Payano-Sanchez then went upstairs and shot Cedano-Cedano to death.
Two children, ages 2 and 7, were also inside the residence at the time of the shooting but were uninjured.
Speaking through an interpreter, Payano-Sanchez was unable to explain why the argument escalated beyond control, begged his family for forgiveness and wished them peace, “but I need to face what the law is imposing on me,” he said.
In a letter to the court that Collo read aloud, Cedano-Cedano’s daughter said her mother’s death “has left a void that can never be filled.”
“Our family will carry this trauma for the rest of our lives,” Cedano-Cedano’s daughter wrote.
Gutierrez-Cedano’s daughter, in a separate leader to the court that Collo read aloud, said that the shootings have left her live “permanent loss, pain and grief,” as well as PTSD and difficulty sleeping.
First responders arrived at the scene to find both female victims had died. Payano-Sanchez’s son was taken to a hospital with serious injuries while Payano-Sanchez himself was treated for superficial self-inflicted injuries.
West Hempfield Township Police initially requested a Special Emergency Response Team (SERT) be dispatched to the residence for a report of a barricaded gunman, though Payano-Sanchez surrendered to police at the scene before they departed.
Prior to dismissing court Judge Conrad thanked West Hempfield Township Police and the District Attorney’s Office for their diligence in investigating and prosecuting the case, respectively.
As part of his sentence Payano-Sanchez must also pay more than $11,000 in restitution and is to have no contact with the victims.
West Hempfield Township Police Det. Sgt. Robert Bradfield filed the charges.
