(SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y.) – Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that Brayan Heredia Escobar, 20, of Guatemala, Jhon Lopez Campos, 18, of El Salvador, and Julio Beltran, 40, of El Salvador, each pleaded guilty to Manslaughter in the First Degree for causing the death of 39-year-old Salvadorian national Candido Guadalupe Saravia Martinez.
“These defendants brutally beat and stabbed a defenseless man, leaving him to die in a tent on the side of the road,” said District Attorney Tierney. “While nothing can undo this senseless act of violence, these guilty pleas ensure that justice has been served, and these individuals will be held accountable with significant sentences totaling decades in prison.”
According to court documents and the defendants’ admissions during their guilty plea allocutions, on February 18, 2025, Suffolk County Police discovered the body of Saravia Martinez in a tent on the side of Suffolk Avenue, just east of Carleton Avenue in Central Islip. Saravia Martinez was discovered with a rope around his neck, under which ligature marks were visible.
Police further observed that Saravia Martinez had blunt force trauma to his face and body, and a stab wound to his neck. Each of the defendants, as well as the victim, had been living undomiciled in Central Islip.
Inside the tent, police recovered a machete and a knife covered in blood, lying on top of the decedent’s neck. The Suffolk County Medical Examiner later determined that Saravia Martinez died of a combination of blunt force trauma, strangulation, and a stab wound to the neck.
Video surveillance was obtained from several businesses on Suffolk Avenue, including a business located directly across the street from where Saravia Martinez’s body was found. The extensive surveillance depicted the three defendants, running from the tent after the incident and entering a laundromat.
Lopez Campo and Beltran made admissions to holding Saravia Martinez down while Lopez Campo repeatedly struck him about the body with the handle of a machete. Lopez Campo then handed a knife to Heredia Escobar and directed him to stab Saravia Martinez. The defendants admittedly attacked Saravia Martinez as revenge from an alleged prior altercation months earlier.
On January 7, 2026, Lopez Campo pleaded guilty to Manslaughter in the First Degree, a Class B violent felony, before Supreme Court Justice John B. Collins. Lopez Campo faces a sentence of 25 years in prison. Lopez Campo is due back in court on February 25, 2026, and he is being represented by Christopher Gioe, Esq.
On January 8, 2026, Heredia Escobar pleaded guilty to Manslaughter in the First Degree, a Class B violent felony, before Justice Collins. Heredia Escobar faces a sentence of 20 years in prison. Heredia Escobar is due back in court on February 26, 2026, and he is being represented by Peter Mayer, Esq.
On January 14, 2026, Beltran pleaded guilty to Manslaughter in the First Degree, a Class B violent felony before Justice Collins. Beltran faces a sentence of 22 years in prison. Beltran is due back in court on February 23, 2026, and he is being represented by Katherine Fernandez, Esq.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Michelle Chiuchiolo of the Homicide Bureau, and the investigation was conducted by Detective Matthew Sagistano of the Suffolk County Police Department’s Homicide Squad.
