Oracio Sanchez Jr.

A man is guilty of murdering a fellow York City party guest last summer after the victim scolded the killer for urinating in front of several women.

Jurors took a little more than two hours Wednesday to convict Oracio Sanchez Jr. of first-degree murder.

Sentencing is set for June 25, but is just a formality. In Pennsylvania, the only possible sentence for first-degree murder is life in prison without parole -- when the death penalty hasn't been sought.

Sanchez, 18, 223 E. Cottage Place, remains in county prison.

He fatally shot 26-year-old Alejandro Garcia-Castro with a sawed-off shotgun during a June 26 outdoor party at the home of the victim's cousin, in the 700 block of Poplar Street.

York City detectives said the victim confronted Sanchez after Sanchez urinated in the yard in front of several women.

Sanchez responded by punching Garcia-Castro in the face and knocking him to the ground, police said.

At that point, Sanchez and his friend, Keith Vazquez-Cervando, teamed up to physically assault the victim, according to police.

Fought back: Garcia-Castro was able to get up and shatter two beer bottles over Sanchez's head, according to police. Sanchez then ran to retrieve the shotgun he had stashed nearby, while Garcia-Castro walked quickly toward his cousin's back door, police said.

Sanchez shot Garcia-Castro in the back as the victim was opening the door, police said.

Police maintain Sanchez and others came to the party with weapons, looking to settle a score with an unidentified man who had "disrespected" Sanchez's father. But when the unidentified man didn't return to the party, Sanchez and his crew put away their guns and joined in the festivities, police said.

Spoiling for fight: Asked why Sanchez would murder a man for chastising him about urinating in public, chief deputy prosecutor Jennifer Russell said that's simply Sanchez's disposition.

"He was in the mood for a fight that night," she said.

Kevin Hoffman, Sanchez's defense attorney, declined comment.

Vazquez-Cervando, 20, of York City, remains charged with Garcia-Castro's homicide but is expected to plead guilty to lesser offenses, Russell confirmed.

Although Vazquez-Cervando helped Sanchez assault the victim, there's no evidence he had any involvement with shooting the man, she said.

"I fully expect next week that the allegations regarding my client's involvement in the homicide will be dismissed by the commonwealth," defense attorney Chris Ferro said.

-- Reach Elizabeth Evans at levans@yorkdispatch.com, 505-5429 or twitter.com/ydcrimetime.