Life sentence for Hempstead man convicted of point-blank murder of good Samaritan who intervened in armed robbery

A Hempstead man convicted of the fatal point-blank shooting of an unarmed man trying to protect his friend from being pistol-whipped was sentenced to life behind bars on Wednesday by a Nassau County Court judge.

A jury took just four hours to convict Deshawn Martin, 28, on June 4 after a monthlong trial on 20 felony counts, including the top count of first-degree murder during a robbery. Martin, who has previously been convicted of armed robbery in Nassau and Suffolk counties and in Florida, where he also still has an open case, was also convicted of six armed robberies from 2021 to 2022.

It was the murder of Santos Valeriano Argueta, 49, a Salvadoran immigrant, around 11 p.m. on Jan. 30, 2022, that put him in prison for life.

Before the sentencing hearing began, Martin asked Supreme Court Justice Terence Murphy for permission to fire his lawyer, Jeffrey Groder, who had represented him at trial.

"This courtroom is supposed to be fair," he told the judge. "There ain't nothing been fair. I’m seeing my life being thrown away without any mercy or any remorse. I’m not ready to push forward on [expletive]."

In a foreshadowing of his sentence to come, the judge cautioned him that anything he said could be considered in handing down the punishment.

"Your characterization of this case ... offends me to the core," Murphy said, reciting the major points of the prosecution.

"Do you recall the person you shot and killed when you could have run away after a gunpoint robbery? Leaving him on a snowbank? Riffling through his pockets to take whatever worldly possessions he had as he lay dying?" the judge asked Martin before denying his request to replace his attorney.

According to court testimony, Martin paced in front of Antojitos Express on Peninsula Boulevard in Hempstead, where Argueta had stopped in for a beer after work, before bursting into the restaurant, flashing his gun and ordering everyone to get down on the floor and hand over their money.

Martin targeted one of the patrons, a friend of Argueta, and began beating the man until Argueta intervened, according to testimony.

He rushed Martin out of the restaurant, protecting the other patrons, witnesses said.

As they wrestled on the snowcovered sidewalk, Martin fired three times, striking Argueta in the head, chest and body, prosecutors said, and later going through his pockets.

After fleeing, Martin continued his crime spree on Feb. 3, robbing a 7-Eleven in Uniondale and a Dunkin'  in Westbury. In 2021, the year before killing Argueta, Martin also held up a Subway sandwich shop in Merrick on Oct. 21 and a Dunkin'  in Hicksville the next day. He and an accomplice stuck-up another 7-Eleven in Plainview on Oct. 26.

Homicide Deputy Bureau Chief Veronica Guariglia told the court before the sentencing that the Nassau crime spree wasn’t Martin’s "first toe in the criminal waters."

He was convicted of using a BB gun to rob a person at a gas station and sentenced to 1 to 3 years. He got out in 2017, according to the prosecutor, and then was rearrested in Suffolk County for four armed robberies in 2018. Martin received a 4-year prison sentence and was released in 2021. He moved to Florida, where prosecutors said he committed more armed robberies before heading back to Nassau for the crime spasm that he was convicted for in June.

Groder asked the judge to consider Martin’s background — the death of his mother during his birth and his older brother’s suicide.

The mother of Martin’s 8-year-old child watched from the gallery and submitted a letter of support.

"Mr. Martin is someone who is worthy of a chance to live a life outside of confinement," Groder said. "It would be easy to throw Mr. Martin away, I ask the court not to do this."

Martin also addressed the court and Argueta’s brother in the audience.

"I know what it’s like to lose a brother," he said. "I just wish that some day you all can find it in your hearts to reach out to me to hear my side of the story," adding, "mistakes happen."

In response, the judge said this was one of the hardest cases he’s presided over in his 15-plus years on the bench.

"It wasn’t a mistake," the judge said. "These were not mistakes. This was your lifestyle."

He asked Martin to reflect on the choices that he’s made and to use his prison time to become a better person.

Murphy drew from the contrast of Argueta’s actions to save his friend and Martin’s ruthless murder and robbery.

"It is my considered judgement that you should not be released from prison for the rest of your life," he said.