The Bronx beauty who tracked down her father’s killer through social media almost 30 years after the brutal slaying, testified at a hearing Monday in Manhattan Supreme Court about her relentless search to find him years after the case had gone cold.
“I never gave up,” said Joselyn Martinez on the witness stand as her father’s accused killer Justo Santos sat a few feet away at the defense table. “I would never give up.”
Santos’ fatally shot Jose Martinez in front of his Inwood restaurant in 1986 after he and two pals were kicked out for making crude comments to a waitress, prosecutors allege.
“I’m honored to take part in the process today because my father didn’t deserve to get killed,” said the aspiring actress, wearing a blue pencil skirt and white blouse.
“My father was working in his restaurant like he always did. I decided when I was 9 years old to go after him. He killed my father, I’m going to get him.”
Martinez, 37, used social media sites to track down Santos, who fled to the Dominican Republic shortly after the murder. The brunette stunner located the cruel thug in Miami where he was working as a janitor.
She reported her incredible discovery to the 34th Precinct last spring and Santos was extradited to New York.
The defense was granted Monday’s unusual hearing, after arguing that Santos’ due process rights were violated by authorities failing to arrest and prosecute him in a timely manner.
Although there is no statute of limitations on murder, prosecutors can’t delay an investigation to gain a tactical advantage.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office must prove they weren’t negligent in pursing Santos, said his defense lawyer Lawrence Herrmann.
“Now he’s got kids, he’s got a job, he lost everything. It’s a horrible thing they waited so long,” the lawyer said.
Martinez said she was stunned Justice Robert Stolz granted the rare “People vs Singer hearing.”
“So many years have passed but my father is not back is he?” she said.
On cross examination, Martinez bristled when the defense lawyer stressed she did this investigation all on her own and found the suspect in Miami, when the police and DANY could not. “He killed my father,” she said. “Who wouldn’t search?”
She said outside court that testifying had brought up “so many memories, so many flashbacks, but “It’s important for people to know they can obtain jusice for their loved ones.”
The hearing is expected to continue Tuesday.