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 Supr

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