Sergio Santana Jr.

On the day after Christmas in 2021, Sergio Santana Jr., a 40-year-old Hispanic man, was killed in a double homicide in the Bronx. The shooting also took the life of 31-year-old Terench Joseph Santana, a new father who lived in Astoria, Queens, with his girlfriend and infant daughter. Family members said Terench, who was born Terrence Smith, had a seasonal delivery job with UPS and also worked for DoorDash. His family worried about him spending time late at night in the Bronx neighborhood where he grew up and where his mother still lived.

The shooting happened in the early morning of December 26, 2021. At about 4:05 a.m., police found both men on the ground with gunshot wounds near the intersection of East 168th Street and Morris Avenue in the Concourse Village section of the Bronx. Terench Santana had been shot in the head and was pronounced dead at the scene, just around the corner from his mother’s apartment. Sergio Santana had been shot in the neck, arm, and back. Emergency responders rushed him to Lincoln Hospital, where he died from his injuries.

The New York Police Department investigation quickly led to a suspect. Five days later, on December 31, 2021, officers arrested Clifton Savage, 40, at his home in the Bronx. While executing a search warrant at the residence, police reported finding a large quantity of narcotics. Savage was initially charged with murder and manslaughter for the deaths of the two men.

Although Savage was reportedly found not guilty in Bronx court, the case was subsequently tried in federal court. Prosecutors presented the killings as drug-related. During a two-week trial, Savage, also known as “Lucky,” faced federal charges for the murders of Sergio Santana and Terrence Smith, as well as narcotics and firearms offenses.

On September 23, a federal jury convicted Clifton Savage on all counts, including two counts of murder. As of that conviction, the case is considered solved.