FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
June 5, 2014
A man who strangled his ex-girlfriend to death in a domestic-related attack and then spent days in an apartment with the victim’s dead body using her car and credit cards before fleeing to Florida has pled guilty to the crime and been sentenced to 25 years in prison, according to the Office of Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez.
Angel Santiago, 40, was sentenced for the murder of his ex –girlfriend Antonia Berrios, 33, who he beat and strangled at his apartment in January 2012. Last April Santiago pled guilty to one count of First Degree Murder in connection with the slaying.
According to prosecutors, Santiago and Berrios had been in a dating relationship for two years that ended just months before the fatal attack. On Jan. 20, 2012, Berrios agreed to allow Santiago to use her car and she spent the night at his apartment located in the 2000 block of South May Street. Prosecutors said that while the victim was at the apartment, Santiago obtained her cell phone and reviewed text messages. He then confronted Berrios, grabbed her by the neck, pushed her against a wall and strangled her to death.
Later that same morning, Santiago was captured on video surveillance using the victim’s debit card at a Walgreens store. Santiago, who was driving Berrios’ car, also used the debit card to purchase food and to withdraw money from her bank account, while staying in the apartment intermittently with the deceased victim for more than two days.
On Jan. 22, 2012, Santiago drove Berrios’ car to the Greyhound bus station in Chicago and purchased a bus ticket to Miami, Florida. Santiago boarded the bus later that night, leaving the victim’s car at the bus station. The victim’s body was later found in the defendant’s apartment after her family traced her cell phone to his residence when she failed to report to work or return any phone calls.
Police identified Santiago as a suspect early in the investigation and he was arrested after being located in Florida on July 10, 2013. He was returned to Cook County and charged with First Degree Murder.
State’s Attorney Alvarez thanked the Chicago Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Assistant State’s Attorney Krista Peterson for their work on the case.
Updated: September 14, 2020
