Lakewood man who admitted to fatal daylight stabbing at liquor store gets 25 years
A Lakewood man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for fatally stabbing another township man at a local liquor store in 2020.
Jorge Santiago-Garcia, 33, pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter in June in the slaying of Rodrigo Jimenez-Paz.
Lakewood police went to Pine Cone Liquor on Second Avenue shortly after 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 31, 2020, following several 911 calls. Officers found Jimenez-Paz, 29, with a stab wound to his chest, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer said.
Jimenez-Paz was later pronounced dead at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune.
Evidence included the murder weapon, found in a trash can a few blocks away, and clear video surveillance footage showing the stabbing.
Santiago-Garcia was arrested about an hour after the crime, still wearing the clothes shown in the surveillance video, Assistant Ocean County Prosecutor Kaitlyn Burke said during a pretrial detention hearing in September 2020.
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Santiago-Garcia told police he had an argument with the victim over an interaction between the victim and a family member of Santiago-Garcia, but he didn't commit the crime and wasn't at the liquor store, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
Santiago-Garcia must serve 85% of his sentence under the No Early Release Act. He has spent the past two years at Ocean County Jail in Toms River awaiting the outcome of his case.
Ken Serrano covers crime, breaking news, local issues and investigations. Reach him at 732-643-4029 or kserrano@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Lakewood NJ man who admitted to 2020 fatal stabbing gets 25 years
