On the Leap Day of 2012, a grim discovery was made in Baltimore's Leakin Park. There, in the 4700 block of Windsor Mill Road, near the entrance to the Carrie Murray Nature Center, 21-year-old Oswaldo Neal Santana was found suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. The call came in at approximately 9:00 PM on Wednesday, February 29th. Though alive when found, his injuries were too severe, and he was pronounced dead at 9:38 PM. At the time of the incident, police had not identified any suspects or a motive for the shooting, leaving a void of information in the sudden and violent end to a young life.
Just two weeks prior to his death, Santana had been released from custody after prosecutors dropped three charges of attempted first-degree murder against him. The charges stemmed from a triple shooting that had occurred on March 20, 2011, in the 2600 block of Park Heights Terrace. In that case, one of the victims had identified Santana from a photo array. However, the case was reportedly postponed because a key witness could not be located to testify. This recent brush with the law was not his only one; court records indicated that Santana had pleaded guilty to a drug distribution charge in 2009. For that offense, he was sentenced to five years in prison, with all but one month suspended.
Away from his legal troubles, Oswaldo Santana was a father to a one-year-old daughter and an eight-month-old son. He was described as a stay-at-home father, suggesting a life centered around his young family. His death left many unanswered questions for those who knew him and for the investigators tasked with solving his murder. The narrative of his life, a complex picture of fatherhood and legal entanglements, was cut short in a hail of bullets in a city park, with no immediate answers as to who was responsible or why. To date, there have been no public announcements regarding any arrests or the identification of any suspects in the killing of Oswaldo Neal Santana.
