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Background: News footage of the September 2022 murder of Nemesis Florentino (WGAL). Inset (left): Miguel Rodriguez (Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office). Inset (right): Nemesis Florentino (Lancaster Online Obituaries).
A Pennsylvania man who shot his girlfriend then sent a video of her dead body to a friend will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Miguel A. Rodriguez, 40, was convicted by a jury of first-degree murder in the death of 33-year-old Nemesis Florentino, whom he shot dead on Sept. 11, 2022. According to the Lancaster County District Attorney, he called a friend after the murder and sent him a video of Florentino’s dead body. When East Hempfield Township Police responded to the scene, Rodriguez barricaded himself inside his home where Florentino lay dead. During a nearly five-hour standoff with police, he fired “more than 100 rounds” at officers, “preventing first responders from potentially saving the victim’s life.”
The judge told Rodriguez, “Society needs to be protected from you.”
According to a probable cause affidavit obtained at the time by WGAL, a local NBC affiliate, Rodriguez told his friend in a video call that he had killed Florentino in his home. He then turned his phone’s camera to show the friend Florentino’s body. After the call, the friend immediately called police.
Rodriguez then left a voicemail for the same friend in which he said, “Hey, I love you. Forgive me for what I’ve done. I’m not turning myself in to the police and the police are there. Bye. Take care of my kids and all.”
Police and a Special Emergency Response Team (SERT) arrived at the scene around 1:30 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2022, and engaged in a standoff that lasted nearly five hours. When Rodriguez opened his front door and pointed his rifle at police, a member of the SERT team shot him in the shoulder. He then surrendered to police at around 6:30 a.m. and was taken into custody while he recovered at a nearby hospital.
Prosecutors called Rodriguez’s crime “particularly heinous” and an “assault on decency.” Assistant District Attorney Kyle Linardo told the court that the video chat “speaks to a level of despicableness” for which there was no legal remedy.
Judge Craig Stedman sentenced Rodriguez to life in prison without the possibility of parole plus 41 1/2 to 85 years. Rodriguez had been found guilty in February of murder in the first degree, two counts of assault of a law enforcement officer with a firearm, five counts of aggravated assault, four counts of recklessly endangering another person, and three counts of obstruction of the administration of law.
When given the opportunity to speak after his sentencing, Rodriguez said he was “very remorseful for what happened” and was “blinded” by drugs at the time of the crime. He asked for forgiveness from Florentino’s family.
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