Deshawn Martin was convicted of fatally shooting a man during an attempted robbery at Antojitos Express in Hempstead in January 2022.

By Michael Mashburn From Daily Voice

A 28-year-old Hempstead man will spend the rest of his life behind bars after killing a good Samaritan during an armed robbery and carrying out a string of violent holdups across Nassau County.

Deshawn Martin was sentenced to life in prison without parole, plus 152 consecutive years, in Nassau County Court on Thursday, July 31. It followed his conviction for a January 2022 murder and six armed robberies.

Martin shot and killed 49-year-old Santos Valeriano Argueta during an attempted robbery at Antojitos Express in Hempstead, prosecutors said. Argueta had tried to intervene after Martin pistol-whipped another patron inside the restaurant.

After being pushed outside, Martin shot Argueta three times at close range—once in the forearm, once in the head, and again directly in the chest. While Argueta lay dying on the ground, Martin rifled through his pockets, stole his phone, and fled the scene, according to prosecutors.

Just days after the killing, Martin committed two more gunpoint robberies. He held up a 7-Eleven in Uniondale in the early morning hours of February 3, 2022, and later that evening, robbed a Dunkin’ Donuts in Westbury.

Martin was also convicted of three October 2021 robberies. In each case, he used a paper bag to hide his weapon and demanded cash from employees at a Subway in Merrick, a Dunkin’ Donuts in Hicksville, and a 7-Eleven in Plainview. He stole hundreds of dollars before fleeing.

Martin was arrested on February 9, 2022, in Freeport by Nassau County police. He was convicted at trial in June of murder, multiple counts of robbery, criminal use of a firearm, weapon possession, assault, and menacing.

Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly called Argueta “heroic” and said Martin’s violent history “speaks for itself, dating back many years.”

“This sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole puts him exactly where he belongs, in a cold jail cell and far-removed from society, where he’ll no longer be able to put the lives of innocent people at risk,” Donnelly said.

He was convicted at trial on June 4, 2025, of murder, multiple counts of robbery, criminal use of a firearm, weapon possession, assault, and menacing.