PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Philadelphia man who admitted to shooting and killing his girlfriend in front of her 11-year-old son just before Christmas two years ago was sentenced Monday to decades in prison.
Family and friends of 35-year-old Tatiana Vargas sniffled and sobbed through the sentencing hearing of Abuid Torres, who shot and killed Vargas on Dec. 23, 2023, in Kensington.
Vargas’ sister read aloud a letter about the bubbly and kind woman who would help anyone, had a big laugh and loved being a mother. Overcome with grief, the prosecutor handling the case took over reading, said the family’s grief is “unbearable” and has left her son and family fearful that Torres will ever get out of jail. She called him a “monster” who abused her sister, often leaving her with black eyes.
The prosecutor expanded on that abuse, reading aloud texts between the two, where Vargas wrote “I am scared of you,” and “I have bruises… You really hurt me.” The texts from Torres seem to gaslight Vargas.
Vargas’ son had told authorities Torres was screaming at her, threatening her nearly a dozen times that he was going to shoot her in front of the young boy, before actually firing the bullet that pierced her vital organs, killing her right in front of him. He was there for his mother’s last breath.
Prosecutors listed Torres’ criminal history, starting with a drug charge when he was a young teenager, and escalating to armed robbery, where he also groped a woman at gunpoint.
Torres also has a case in Virginia, where he was convicted of burglarizing a pawn shop and stealing three dozen firearms. He was sentenced to a decade, but was released in half a year.
They also say he has racked up infractions in prison, including having a makeshift knife and getting into fights.
At one point during the hearing, Torres seemed to erupt with emotion and was tossed out by Judge Diana Anhalt, who chastised him and told him to calm down and respect the court.
He came back a few minutes later, after being heard in the back, screaming, and apologized to the judge.
Torres said he was “no monster,” told the court the shooting was “an accident,” and that he was extremely remorseful, hoping his apology would be acceptable to Vargas’ father.
“That will make me feel better,” her father said, adding that his “happiness is gone.”
Torres’ attorney tried to argue for him, speaking of his traumatic childhood, which started as an infant and included drugs and other issues. The public defender said it was “one of the worst” past histories he has seen.
Anhalt admonished Torres for traumatizing a little boy for life, and called the shooting “one of the worst cases [she] has seen.”
The judge centered her words around Vargas’ son and said Torres “didn’t have the backbone” to stay and call for help. He instead let a young boy handle the murder of his mother.
Anhalt said Torres gave all that trauma he endured in his childhood to that little boy, and noted how proud the family must be of that child for being so brave.
She then sentenced Torres to 20 to 40 years in prison, at the recommendation of the District Attorney’s office.