Man sentenced to life in prison in Orlando roommate murder trial

Bryan Santana convicted in death of Shelby Fazio

ORLANDO, Fla. – The man accused of killing his roommate and sexually abusing her corpse was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted on a slew of charges, including first-degree murder.

WKMG-TV reports Bryan Santana, 21, is accused of killing Shelby Fazio, 23, and her dog, and attempting to kill another roommate in October at their home in the 400 block of North John Street.

Santana was found guilty of six counts, including first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, cruelty to animal, abuse of a body and grand theft.

The jury got the case just before 3:30 p.m. Thursday. A verdict was returned just after 5 p.m. Santana was sentenced immediately after hearing impact statements from witnesses and Fazio's family.

Before the state rested, prosecutors played an alleged recorded confession Santana made to police.

On Wednesday, prosecutors showed jurors the belt that crime scene investigators said they found around Fazio's neck and the bloody hunting knife that Fazio's third roommate testified Santana tried to kill him with.

"He came at me, pepper-sprayed me.  I tried to knock the knife out of his hand and was successful in doing that," said John Heermance. "And then we wrestled in the living room area.  I believe at this point the knife was on the floor again as well as the pepper-spray and he told me to go into my room and everything would be OK, and I told him I can't, I have to leave.

An Orange County sheriff's deputy also told jurors how he says he found Fazio's body.

"I noticed a body laying on the ground.  The door hit the left leg of the body," said Deputy Charlie Murphy. "She was naked. I remember she had a belt around her throat and some type of pen or pencil shoved into her neck."

Santana's high school friend then testified that Santana texted her that he was going to kill his roommates.

"He just said he was going to fulfill his fantasies," said Laura Ramirez. "He said he was going to gut her."

Testimony began Wednesday after Judge Renee Roache ruled Santana was competent to stand trial.

The competency hearing was called after an alleged outburst by Santana, while in a holding cell at the Orange County Courthouse on Tuesday.

As opening statements were to scheduled to begin, Santana smeared feces on himself and a wall and tried to strike a corrections officer, officials said.

"He has now soiled himself and smeared himself in feces and smeared the wall," Roache said. "I've ordered security to clean him up and bring him up here in full restraints."

A psychologist evaluated Santana on Tuesday and presented her findings Wednesday morning, with Roache ruling a short time later that the murder trial would resume.

Roache said Tuesday that in future court appearances Santana would be placed in full restraints and equipped with a shocking device controlled by the judge.

"He certainly knows how to behave himself in the courtroom. He behaved himself very well yesterday. Now that the train is coming down the tracks at full speed, we are seeing some other behavior," Roache said. "I will not tolerate disruption in this courtroom. If I have to gag him, I will. If I have to remove him I will."

Investigators said Fazio's death was premeditated and Santana was charged with first-degree murder, along with attempted murder of his other roommate.

According to court records, Santana confessed to killing Fazio by strangling her and stabbing her in the neck. He also said he had sex with her after she was dead, according to officials.

Evidence in the case was released in December, including pictures of a message, stating, "I'm sorry I did this," written with animal blood on a wall, officials said.

On Monday, a 12-person jury was chosen out of a pool that included several dozen people.


About the Authors:

Mark Lehman became a News 6 reporter in July 2014, but he's been a Central Florida journalist and part of the News 6 team for much longer. While most people are fast asleep in their bed, Mark starts his day overnight by searching for news on the streets of Central Florida.