Connecticut Man Sentenced for Stray Bullet Murder

A Connecticut man received a 33-year prison sentence on Tuesday for the unintentional killing of a woman who was the mother of a Puerto Rican Olympic athlete.

Jasper Green, 23, from New Haven, was one of three individuals charged with the murder of Mabel Martinez Antongiorgi, who was aged 56 at the time of her death on April 9, 2022. She was at home in Waterbury, about 30 miles southwest of Hartford, engaged in some sewing.

Martinez Antongiorgi’s daughter, Yarimar Mercado Martinez, represented Puerto Rico in rifle shooting at the Olympics in 2016, 2021, and is set to compete again in 2024.

Green pleaded guilty to the murder charge in February. His legal team did not respond promptly to inquiries following Tuesday’s verdict from Waterbury Superior Court.

During the trial, it was revealed that the shooting stemmed from a conflict involving one of the suspects, Franklin Robinson, and a man who had approached his girlfriend. Along with Green and another suspect, they fired shots at a vehicle parked on the street near Martinez Antongiorgi’s home. One bullet struck her, and another innocent bystander was injured but survived.

The judge found Robinson guilty in 2023 on multiple counts, leading to a 90-year sentence.

The third suspect, Levi Brock, has pleaded not guilty to various charges, including murder, and is awaiting trial.

In a poignant social media post after her mother’s passing, Mercado Martinez expressed her sorrow, lamenting that she never got to say goodbye. She wrote, “Why are you? Why is this?” reflecting on the ordinary nature of her mother’s last moments at home.

Martinez Antongiorgi, along with her husband John Lewis Mercado, had moved from Puerto Rico to Waterbury a few years following the catastrophic Hurricane Maria in 2017. Just before her death, they were planning to renew their wedding vows, as noted by their daughter.