Darin Semple, of Freeport, convicted of murder of Rafael Delossantos, of Baldwin
Darin Semple, then 19, of Freeport, is walked from Nassau County police headquarters in Mineola in December 2021. Credit: Debbie Egan-Chin
A Freeport man faces 25 years to life in prison after being convicted Monday for his role in the October 2021 murder of a 23-year-old man in Baldwin, officials said.
Darin Semple, 22, is scheduled for sentencing on May 3 after being convicted of second-degree murder, first-degree robbery and second-degree robbery in a jury trial before Judge Helene Gugerty, the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office said.
The district attorney’s office said Semple and a co-defendant, Devin Obleanis, as well as a third suspect who is still at large, met the victim, Rafael Delossantos, as part of a drug deal on Victoria Street in Baldwin at 1:51 p.m. on Oct. 25, 2021.
Upon arrival, authorities said, the trio held Delossantos at gunpoint, shot him twice — and stole his marijuana.
Delossantos died of his injuries.
Semple and Obleanis were arrested by Nassau County police Homicide Squad detectives and Bureau of Special Operations officers during a stop on Meadowbrook Parkway in North Merrick on Dec. 10, 2021.
“Darin Semple used a planned marijuana deal as the lure to ambush and kill 23-year-old Rafael Delossantos on a Baldwin street, shooting him twice in his car and making off with the marijuana,” Nassau District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly said in a statement.
She added: “Rafael was a young man with a family who loved him. That family endured his loss and sat every day during this defendant’s trial to ensure justice was done.”
According to court records, Obleanis, 22, of Central Islip, also was charged with second-degree murder, first-degree robbery and second-degree robbery, and pleaded guilty before Gugerty on Sept. 9. He will appear for sentencing on April 15.
John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”
