DA: Homeless man, Oscar Morocho-Morocho, indicted in beating death of girlfriend in Shirley

Pledging to "seek justice" for a 34-year-old woman who was beaten to death earlier this month outside an entertainment complex in Shirley, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney has announced an indictment charging the victim's boyfriend with her murder.

Suffolk County police and prosecutors said the victim, Ruth Marisel Para-Martinez, was punched, kicked and beaten during a violent 25-minute assault in front of 30 The Green, a bowling alley, arcade, bar and skating rink in a commercial area of Shirley on the evening of May 7 — an attack authorities said was caught on surveillance video.

The alleged attacker, Oscar Morocho-Morocho, 32, is a homeless man who authorities said was the boyfriend of Para-Martinez.

Morocho-Morocho was arrested days after the assault in front of a car wash on Sutphin Boulevard in Jamaica, Queens.

On Wednesday, Morocho-Morocho was arraigned before Supreme Court Justice John B. Collins, charged in an indictment with first-degree manslaughter and second-degree manslaughter. He was ordered held on $1 million bond or $100,000 cash bail.

Prosecutors said Para-Martinez, who also was homeless, was found dead at about 6 on the morning after the attack "in the same location" where surveillance captured her being beaten by Morocho-Morocho. At the time of his arrest, police said Morocho-Morocho had beaten Para-Martinez "repeatedly over a period of time" — then called 911 to report she had died.

"No one deserves to suffer a violent death such as the one endured by the victim," Tierney said in a statement Wednesday, adding: "We will seek justice for Ms. Para-Martinez and her family by aggressively prosecuting the defendant for this vicious crime."

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

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.”