LANCASTER, PA — A Lancaster city man has been sentenced to up to 70 years in prison after pleading guilty Monday to fatally shooting a 68-year-old man in broad daylight last year.
Edwin Ulysses Concepcion, 25, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and related firearms offenses in the May 2023 killing of Israel Lugo, a deaf and mute man who was found shot four times.
Lancaster County Judge Jeffery D. Wright sentenced Concepcion to 20 to 40 years for the murder charge and an additional 15 to 30 years for the weapons charges — to be served consecutively.
Despite being given the opportunity in court, Concepcion declined to offer a motive or explain why he shot Lugo near North Market and West New streets around 2 p.m. on May 1, 2023.
According to police, Lugo had no money or identification on him, and only a small amount of marijuana. Authorities say it’s unclear if the two men knew each other.
After the shooting, Concepcion reportedly took a Lyft back to his apartment on South Queen Street. Investigators used surveillance footage from the Lancaster Safety Coalition and Lyft records to track him.
A search of his apartment led police to a Springfield Armory XD 9mm handgun, hidden in an air vent. The weapon had four rounds missing and bore Concepcion’s fingerprints on the magazine. Clothing matching surveillance footage was also recovered at the scene.
Concepcion’s attorney, Jack McMahon of Philadelphia, did not comment on the case.
The shooting shocked the local community, not only for its apparent randomness but also because Lugo, the victim, was deaf and mute, making the circumstances even more tragic and perplexing.
