Miguel Angel Santana, formerly of Waldorf, Md. Booking photo at age 26.LA PLATA, Md. (December 12, 2019)—Tony Covington, State's Attorney for Charles County, announced that on Thursday, December 12, 2019, Charles County Circuit Court Judge Amy J. Bragunier sentenced Miguel Angel Santana, 29 of Waldorf, to life in prison for Conspiracy to Commit the First-Degree Murder of Lydell Wood and Possession of a Firearm with a Disqualifying Crime.
On April 3, 2019, a Charles County jury found Santana guilty of the above-mentioned charges.
On January 6, 2016, officers responded to the 2600 block of Rooks Head Place in Waldorf for the report of a shooting. Upon arrival, officers found one victim, Lydell Wood, with a single gunshot wound in his back. The victim succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased.
An investigation into the shooting revealed that an acquaintance of Wood got into a confrontation with Santana earlier that day while Wood and other men were present. The acquaintance brandished a handgun and shot at Santana. Wood had no involvement in the shooting. Santana fled the area unharmed and contacted co-defendant Antonio Ka-Juan Owens to help him retaliate.
Santana and Owens returned to the area in search of the person who shot at Santana earlier in the day. When Wood was spotted, Santana and Owens confronted him. Wood ran away after both men brandished guns. Santana and Owens gave chase and fired several gunshots, striking Wood in the back as he attempted to find safety and enter a house in the neighborhood. After the shooting, both men fled the area.
Santana was later identified as one of the shooters by witness testimony, as well as other extensive corroborating evidence.
Co-defendant Owens was previously found guilty by a Charles County jury of First-Degree Murder and related charges for his involvement. He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole plus 50 years in prison on August 30, 2018 by the Honorable Judge H. James West.
At sentencing, Assistant State's Attorney Jonathan Beattie addressed the judge, "[the defendant] has shown a propensity for violence. Mr. Santana is a violent and dangerous person. There's no other way to spin it. The only thing to look at is his history — and that is a very horrifying and dismal picture. The State asks that Your Honor incapacitates the defendant for as long as humanly possible to ensure he does not victimize anyone else in this community or another [community]."
Prior to his conviction for this case, Santana was convicted for the first-degree murder of another victim. Santana is serving life plus 105 years in a prison for that case.