Lancaster killer gets up to 70 years for random street shooting of deaf man

LANCASTER, PA – A Manheim Township man will spend decades behind bars after pleading guilty to fatally shooting a deaf and mute man on a Lancaster city street in what prosecutors called a “deliberate and unprovoked attack.”

Judge Jeffery Wright sentenced 25-year-old Edwin Ulysses Concepcion to 35 to 70 years in state prison Monday after he admitted to gunning down 68-year-old Israel Lugo on May 1, 2023. Concepcion entered guilty pleas to criminal homicide, illegal firearm possession, carrying without a license, altering a firearm’s manufacturer number and making false written statements.

Prosecutors said Concepcion followed Lugo on West New Street before pulling a handgun and firing four shots. Surveillance footage captured the killing and later tracked Concepcion leaving the area in a rideshare vehicle he had ordered. Detectives recovered a handgun with an obliterated serial number, clothing and a debit card linking him to the crime. His fingerprints matched those found on the weapon.

Lugo and Concepcion were strangers. In court, Lugo’s brother, speaking through a translator, demanded answers that Concepcion did not provide. The defendant only told the courtroom that he “appreciated” those present and hoped to learn something from the experience.

Concepcion, who was barred from possessing firearms due to a prior burglary conviction, was also accused of lying on an application to buy a pistol from a Manheim Township gun shop in April 2023. He will be required to pay more than $1,400 in funeral expenses as part of his sentence.

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