Caldwell man was like a father to his murder victim. He’ll spend decades in prison
For the last year, Canyon County Deputy Prosecutor Andrew Haws has been fully focused on the criminal case of Felix Santiago Torres, he told a courtroom this summer.
Haws saw the porch where 21-year-old Danny Borges Santiago bled out, after Santiago Torres fatally shot him, Haws said. The attorney attended the victim’s autopsy and watched medical staff examine him in a sterile room. And then he prosecuted the case through motions and a multi-day trial, securing a conviction.
But the reality is, Haws said, this case will eventually be a memory for him and the rest of the court.
“We will all move on,” Haws said at Santiago Torres’ sentencing. “That’s not true of Danny’s family.”
Borges Santiago’s mother still has to see the porch where her son died. His sister — who described him as the heart of their home — won’t get to watch their kids grow up together. His parents don’t get to watch their son raise his child.
But at least his family still has memories to hold onto, Haws said. They can look back at his smile, his kindness, and his love for his family, he said. Borges Santiago’s son, Danny Jr., who was born after his father’s death, doesn’t have that.
“There will be a ripple of absence felt at every birthday, every holiday, every graduation for the rest of his life,” Haws said. “An empty chair and a dusty photograph. That’s the father he gets.”
On April 17, 2024, Santiago Torres and Borges Santiago’s mother, who were dating, had gotten into a fight that morning, which prompted Borges Santiago to get involved. Santiago Torres then shot and killed Borges Santiago outside his mother’s Caldwell home, according to the prosecution. Santiago Torres had known the victim since he was a child and was “essentially” his stepfather, Haws said.
Santiago Torres drove himself to the Nampa Police Department and turned himself in. A 12-person jury convicted Santiago Torres, now 35, of felony first-degree murder and an enhancement for the use of a deadly weapon.
Thomas Whitney, the judge presiding over the case under state law, was at a minimum required to sentence him to at least 10 years in prison. Santiago Torres could have spent up to the rest of his life in prison without the option of parole.
He was sentenced to life in prison, but given the possibility of parole after 27 years, Whitney ruled during Santiago Torres’ sentencing. Borges Santiago’s family in court asked for a life sentence, with his father calling Santiago Torres a “bitter, selfless, manipulative, lying, coward.”
“It is unexplainable how a person who was in a boy’s life for 10 years, who was supposed to take care of that boy like his own son, would take his life,” his father said in Spanish.
Despite pleadings from Borges Santiago’s family asking for the maximum sentence — and the prosecution’s request for a minimum 50-year sentence — Whitney said this crime wasn’t the totality of who he is as a person, and that he had numerous letters of support from friends and family.
Santiago Torres’ Boise-based private attorney Jeb Bond asked for a minimum prison sentence of 15 years. He argued that his client deserved the opportunity to be rehabilitated, and that the situation was emotionally charged. Santiago Torres was trying to defend himself from Borges Santiago and the family dog, Hades.
Whitney rebuked claims that the altercation was partly Borges Santiago or his mother’s fault. He said Santiago Torres had the opportunity to walk away, but instead chose to pull out his gun.
“What happened that morning, again, was a heated but fairly ordinary — unpleasant — but ordinary conflict between people in close relationships,” he said. “The fault for the death lies solely with you.”
