The family of Nemesis Florentino, a 33-year-old Dominican-born woman described as “loving” and “radiant,” is finally seeing justice nearly two years after her brutal murder at the hands of her boyfriend, Miguel A. Rodriguez.
On Monday, April 14, 2025, a Lancaster County judge sentenced Rodriguez to life in prison without parole, plus an additional 41.5 to 85 years for her murder and a violent standoff with police.
Florentino, a native of Santo Domingo and just one semester away from completing her associate’s degree, was shot twice in the head by Rodriguez inside his East Hempfield Township home on September 11, 2022.
Prosecutors revealed during trial that Rodriguez filmed her lifeless body and sent the footage to a friend before engaging in a dangerous and prolonged standoff with law enforcement.
When police arrived, they were met with a barrage of gunfire. Rodriguez fired over 100 rounds both inside and outside the residence during a five-hour siege that ended only when he exited the home wielding a loaded semi-automatic rifle and was shot in the arm by police. Authorities later confirmed that the use of force was justified.
The emotional impact of Florentino’s death was powerfully conveyed in court by her mother, who addressed the judge through an interpreter.
“This is endless pain,” she said, asking the court to “bring justice for a mother who lost her child.”
She remembered her daughter as a kind-hearted individual who enjoyed helping others and had many ambitions for her future.
Assistant District Attorney Kyle Linardo called the killing “a particularly heinous crime” and added that the mandatory life sentence could not fully account for the “devastation and damage” or the “assault on decency” that Rodriguez inflicted.
Though Rodriguez expressed remorse during his sentencing, claiming he was “blinded by drugs” at the time of the killing, Judge Craig Stedman was clear in his assessment.
“You are an extreme danger to the community,” Stedman said. “Society needs to be protected from you.”
In addition to his prison sentence, Rodriguez was ordered to pay more than $24,000 in restitution to cover Florentino’s funeral expenses.
As her family and community continue to mourn, Florentino is remembered not as a victim of senseless violence, but as a vibrant, ambitious woman whose life was tragically cut short.
