In The Godfather, Sonny Corleone is killed at the tollbooth after leaving the wedding.
Sonny, whose full name is Santino Corleone, is Vito Corleone’s eldest son and the hot-tempered heir apparent of the family. After Vito is shot, Sonny assumes much of the family’s operational leadership. His aggressive response to the shooting intensifies the conflict with the rival New York families and makes him a major target.
Carlo Rizzi, Sonny’s brother-in-law, is secretly involved in the plot against him. Carlo abuses Connie, Sonny’s sister, and arranges for her to call Sonny during a family crisis. Sonny drives away from the wedding reception in anger, and the gunmen ambush him at a tollbooth, firing repeatedly at his car.
The scene is one of the film’s most consequential turning points. Sonny’s death helps motivate the later retaliation against Carlo and accelerates Michael Corleone’s transformation into the family’s new leader.