Leer en espa\u00f1ol<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cWe\u2019re ecstatic. We\u2019ve been waiting since October 2019 for some justice. It\u2019s been a long wait,\u201d said Bobby Randazzo, Christopher Randazzo\u2019s brother, moments after hearing the verdict.<\/p>\n
\u201cGuilty,\u201d was read in court as the verdict was announced.<\/p>\n
Holston and Romero were convicted in the killing of the 39-year-old.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel bad for their families too because they ruined their families. But they still get to see them and hear from them,\u201d Bobby Randazzo said.<\/p>\n
Nearly seven years ago, Christopher Randazzo\u2019s body was found near the Southern Seas Resort in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. His iPhone, sneakers, wallet and keys were taken after he was shot in the back of the head.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have closure and can put it to rest,\u201d Bobby Randazzo said. \u201cWe got justice for him so now maybe he can rest in peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
Randazzo\u2019s family, including his elderly father, remained in court throughout the weeklong trial.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was awful. It\u2019s something you\u2019ll never forget,\u201d a family member said. \u201cIt gives us the truth of what happened instead of imagining the last seven years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following the verdict, Holston was seen mouthing \u201cI love you,\u201d blowing a kiss and making a heart shape with his hands while in handcuffs.<\/p>\n
Romero\u2019s attorney said an appeal is already being considered.<\/p>\n
Although both men were found guilty of murder, they were not found guilty of possessing a gun or discharging a firearm.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the jury was clear and unanimous on the involvement of both. It perhaps couldn\u2019t find beyond a reasonable doubt who is the actual person,\u201d Judge Michael A. Usan said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe jury\u2019s verdict was inconsistent, basically told us we don\u2019t know who had a gun, or how this man was killed and that\u2019s troubling,\u201d said Jim Lewis, Romero\u2019s attorney.<\/p>\n
Lewis said trying both men together was a \u201cdetriment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had always asked to be separate. Jose Romero was never alleged to carry a gun in this incident. The co-defendant was, so to some extent we paid the price,\u201d Lewis said.<\/p>\n
Following the verdict, the Randazzo family said they planned to visit his gravesite.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was a joy at home and anyone he ever ran into,\u201d a family member said. \u201cWe brought light to everybody\u2019s life and everybody misses him for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prosecutors were not seeking the death penalty in the case, but both men face mandatory life sentences. They are scheduled to return to court in June for sentencing.<\/p>\n
\ud83c\udfe0 News From Your Neighborhood<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. \u2014 A Broward jury found Torrey Holston and Jose Romero guilty in the 2019 killing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":282515,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[249,251,250],"class_list":["post-282514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282514\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/282515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}