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Casselberry Man Sentenced to Life After Stabbing Girlfriend — Children Dropped at Daycare Minutes Later

Farel Torres, 38, was convicted and sentenced to life without parole for the May 29, 2024 stabbing death of Vanessa Santiago in Casselberry, Florida. Security footage and audio show Torres moved cameras and removed an SD card before fatally stabbing Santiago multiple times; a 5-year-old child witnessed the attack. After the killing he allegedly cleaned up, dressed the children and dropped them at daycare before calling police. The case underscores the severity of domestic violence and the availability of support services.

01:39 AM, 11/26/2025Society
Casselberry Man Sentenced to Life After Stabbing Girlfriend — Children Dropped at Daycare Minutes Later

A Seminole County jury convicted 38-year-old Farel Torres of second-degree murder after a brief 14-minute deliberation on Sept. 18. Prosecutors say Torres fatally stabbed his girlfriend, Vanessa Santiago, in their Casselberry, Florida apartment on the morning of May 29, 2024.

Security-camera footage recovered from the apartment shows the couple arguing into the early morning hours before the attack. Investigators say Torres moved some cameras that would have recorded him retrieving a knife, removed the SD card from the bedroom camera, and hid the card and the weapon under the bed along with a pair of scissors.

The next morning, audio from the cameras captured the fatal confrontation. According to the prosecution, Santiago was sitting on the floor telling Torres to leave when he retrieved the hidden knife and stabbed her multiple times. She sustained at least seven stab wounds, including a blow that penetrated to the heart and another that left the blade lodged partly in her skull.

"He approached her while she was sitting with her legs crossed, grabbed the knife from where he had hidden it and began stabbing her," said Domenick Leo, chief trial attorney for the 18th Judicial Circuit. "The footage is devastating, particularly because the couple's 5‑year‑old son witnessed the attack."

Prosecutors presented video showing Santiago's 5-year-old waking to screams, climbing down from a bunk bed and walking into the hallway where he saw the attack. Torres reportedly told the boy to leave and then closed the bedroom door. The two young children were later seen trying to peer under the door as their mother lay dying and could be heard gurgling on the recording.

After the killing, Torres allegedly wiped surfaces with baby wipes, dressed both children, placed a diaper on the 3-year-old and drove them to a daycare facility. Surveillance footage from the daycare shows him arriving calmly, placing his hands on the children’s heads and completing paperwork as if it were a normal day. He then returned home and called police to report the killing.

Torres was tried, convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Resources

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, help is available: call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or visit thehotline.org. All calls are confidential, toll-free and the hotline operates 24/7 in multiple languages.

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