You are reading

Juvenile Offender Pleads Guilty To Murder, Faces 14 Years To Life

gavel3

Dec. 21, 2015 Staff Report

He was 15 years old when he strangled a woman to death in Astoria. Nearly seven years later, at the age of 22, Corona resident Jose Martinez now faces 14 years to life in prison for his crime.

Martinez pleaded guilty Friday to killing 23-year-old Carmen Saldana on July 12, 2009, according to the Queens District Attorney’s office.

Martinez, who was riding his bicycle that day, encountered the woman on the street and started talking to her.

He followed her home and once inside the Astoria apartment she shared with her mother, the two argued and a physical altercation ensued.

Martinez then wrapped his hands around the victim’s neck and choked her to death.

“This was a brutal murder – made all the more horrible because the defendant was just 15 at the time. A young woman’s life was senselessly cut short and the defendant, now an adult, will face a lengthy term behind bars when sentenced next month,” Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.

Martinez was apprehended as a result of a DNA hit following a 2012 conviction for attacking a cab driver at LaGuardia Airport. That sample was matched to DNA found at the crime scene.

After this DNA hit, investigators were concerned that Martinez was misrepresenting his age for a lighter, juvenile sentence, according to published reports from the time. However, the Queens DA’s office said Monday that Martinez had been able to produce legal documents proving his birth date as Sept. 24, 1993.

Martinez will be sentenced on Jan. 27. Judge Gregory Lasak has indicated that he will sentence Martinez to 14 years to life in prison as a juvenile offender, according to Brown.

email the author: [email protected]
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Manhattan bouncer charged in New Year’s Day fatal stabbing in Elmhurst: NYPD

A Manhattan man was arrested on Saturday and charged in the fatal stabbing of an East Elmhurst man during the early morning hours of New Year’s Day in what notably became the city’s first homicide of 2024.

Torrence Holmes, 35, of St. Nicholas Place in Hamilton Heights, was taken into custody at his home and transported back to Queens, where he was booked at the 110th Precinct in Elmhurst on manslaughter and other charges on Saturday afternoon.

After surge of traffic violence, Queens leaders demand safer streets especially for children

Following a tragic week on Queens streets where three pedestrians — 43-year-old Natalia Garcia-Valencia, 58-year-old Elisa Bellere and 8-year-old Bayrron Palomino Arroyo — were fatally struck by unsafe drivers, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards announced that he has allocated $1.5 million in capital funding for street safety improvements on three of the borough’s most dangerous roadways.

Richards made the announcement at 82nd Street and Astoria Boulevard in East Elmhurst on Monday morning, about a mile from where the 8-year-old boy was struck and killed by an impatient pickup truck driver from Flushing on Mar. 13 as he walked in the crosswalk at 31st Avenue and 101st Street with him mother and brother, who was injured.