NEW YORK (PIX11) — A motivated actress turned rookie detective, avenged her father’s death by hunting down the man who allegedly killed him 26 years ago, according to a report in the New York Daily News.
Joselyn Martinez, fueled by the lack of answers surrounding her father Jose’s murder, took matters in her own hands eight years ago and searched for Justos Santos, the man suspected of opening fire on Martinez nearly three decades ago. According to authorities, Santos fled to the Dominican Republic thereafter.
The victim’s daughter reportedly spent $280 towards different background-check websites and ultimately found Santos’ address in Miami, where he was arrested last Thursday.
Santos, 43, who was working as a manager for a janitorial company and under the assumption he was off the hook for the murder, admitted to the killing and waived extradition, a police source said.
Back on November 22, 1986, Santos and his two pals entered Martinez’s Dominican cuisine restaurant in Washington Heights and were chatting up Joselyn’s mother in a derogatory manner. Jose went to his wife’s rescue and confronted the boys outside but his valiant stance led to a fatal shooting that left Martinez dead. Cops soon determined that Santos was the gunman.
“Knowing the person my father was, I couldn’t live with myself if (Santos) stayed free,” Martinez, a star on the web series “Wives in the Heights” told the News. “I need to see him in New York to know this has really happened”.
After Martinez, 36, from the Bronx, found her father’s assailant online, she submitted the information of his whereabouts to the 34th Precinct, the police force that handled the original case. NYPD detectives will fly to Florida and bring him to face prosecution in New York State.
Mike Sheehan, a reporter at PIX11 and retired NYPD detective, was assigned to the Martinez case back in 1986 and will have an exclusive interview with Joselyn Martinez on the PIX 11 News at 5 and 10 tonight.
—
Web produced by: CHRISTOPHER BRITO
