Last month, three immigrant men were charged with strangled and stabbing another migrant on Long Island in what a local district attorney called a “brutal” murder.
Defendant – Brayan Heredia Escobar, 19, of Guatemala. John Lopez Campos, 18, of El Salvador. According to a statement from Suffolk County Da Ray Tierney, El Salvador, Julio Bertran, 39, attacked 39-year-old Candida Guadalupe Saravia Martinez on February 18th.
When officers discovered Saravia Martinez's body in a tent near Suffolk Avenue, they said they found a rope around their neck, marked the face from blunt instrument injuries and found a stab wound that cut the carotid artery.
The officer also found a machete in the tent and a bloody knife lying on Saravia Martinez's neck.
“The allegations of this murder were cruel,” Tierney said. “We do not tolerate such violence in Suffolk County. The violence as claimed here has impacted us all and we are committed to putting these offenders accountable for their actions.”
The victim and his suspicious assailant are homeless, the DA added.
Authorities said they found video surveillance footage from several Suffolk Avenue businesses that caught three killers who allegedly ran out of their tents after the murder and walked across the street.
The DA's office declined to comment on the situation of the attacker's immigration.
“We respectfully refuse to comment on the immigration situation and will not discuss previous convictions until we follow the rules of the Barr and the guilt stage of the case is complete,” the spokesperson told the Post.
All three are charged with second-degree murder and if convicted, each could be ordered to live for 25 years.
Heredia Escobar will return to court on March 27th. Bertran returns to court on April 10th, with Lopez Campos' next hearing scheduled for April 23rd.
