A Centereach man can spend up to four decades in prison for killing an East Patchogue mother.
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced that 32-year-old Anthony Santiesteban was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison, after a jury found him guilty in June of Murder in the Second Degree and other related charges.
Santiesteban stood accused of fatally gunning down 33-year-old Martina Thompson in October of 2022.
“This defendant deliberately took the life of Martina Thompson, whose children will now have to live without their mother,” said District Attorney Tierney. “Murder does not just end one life, it devastates families, friends, and entire communities. While no punishment can ever truly compensate for the loss of a loved one, this sentence ensures the defendant will face severe consequences for this grievous act and will no longer pose a danger to the public.”
Police and prosecutors presented a mountain of evidence that pointed to Santiesteban as being the triggerman. The most compelling evidence for the jury: surveillance video that put the defendant at the murder scene with the victim.
First, video surveillance spotted the convicted killer and the young mother talking next to Santiesteban’s Jeep Cherokee in a parking lot in Coram in the early morning hours of October 29th, 2022.
The convicted, cold blooded killer was then seen on video following the victim into a fenced area at the rear of the parking lot. Immediately afterwards, at approximately 1:03 a.m., a gunshot is heard on the video recording, and Santiesteban was captured walking out of the fenced area with a semi-automatic handgun in his hand. Santiesteban then entered his Jeep and took off.
Approximately 22 minutes later, the police found the victim with a gunshot wound to her face, lying in a pool of blood. She was transported to Long Island Community Hospital in Patchogue where she was pronounced dead.
A few days later, police searched Santiesteban’s bedroom pursuant to a search warrant and recovered a loaded and defaced 9 mm handgun. Ballistics testing confirmed the bullet casing found next to the victim’s body came from the gun found in the bedroom.
On June 24, 2024, Santiesteban was convicted of the following charges after a jury trial heard before Acting Supreme Court Justice Anthony S. Senft Jr.:
* One count of Murder in the Second Degree, a Class A felony.
* Two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, Class C violent felonies.
* One count of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree, a Class D violent felony.
Justice Senft then sentenced Santiesteban to 40 years to life in prison.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Elena Tomaro of the Homicide Bureau
and Assistant District Attorney Joseph Mallek of the Child Abuse and Domestic Violence Bureau, and the investigation was conducted by Detectives Luis Cabrera and Thomas Henry of the Suffolk County Police Department’s Homicide Squad.