A Hampton Bays man was convicted this week of the November 2020 murder and robbery of a man who was found dead in the back of his pickup truck on Roanoke Avenue.
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said Aleides Lopez Cambara, 42, was found guilty by jury of Murder in the Second Degree and Robbery in the First Degree of Marco Grisales, 34, of Sag Harbor. Lopez Cambara faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison.
“The defendant and his accomplices senselessly and brutally murdered the victim on his birthday,” Tierney said in a press release. “While the defendant’s murderous jealousy and greed ensured that this victim would never celebrate another birthday, the jury’s verdict ensures that this defendant will spend his birthday in prison for many years to come.”
Tierney said that on Nov. 11, 2020, Lopez Cambara was with his girlfriend, Tyra Lemus, then age 18, when Lemus received a call from the Grisales, who told her it was his birthday and asked if he could see her that night. Lopez Cambara heard the call and became jealous, and devised a plan to rob the man with Lemus, Tierney said.
Lemus set up a meeting with Grisales at a McDonald’s in Riverhead under the premise of celebrating his birthday, Tierney said. After the meeting Grisales and Lemus got into his pickup truck and drove with him to a nearby buffalo farm to party, where Lopez Cambara and two others he had recruited — Dennis Jonathan Hernandez Abanao and an unidentified male — were already at the farm, lying in wait to rob Grisales, Tierney said.
After Lemus and Grisales parked, Lopez Cambara and the unidentified male dragged Grisales out of the car and bludgeoned him to death with the barrel of a shotgun, while Hernandez Abanao and Lemus stole jewelry and other valuables from the victim’s car, Tierney said. Lopez Cambara tore a gold chain from the victim’s neck, then the three men put his lifeless body in the bed of his own pickup truck.
Lemus testified about the incident at the trial, giving a detailed description of Lopez Cambara’s involvement in the murder, Tierney said. Her testimony was corroborated by surveillance videos from the McDonald’s and Peconic Bay Medical Center that showed the cars of both Lopez Cambara and Grisales traveling to the scene of the crime, as well as cell site records and WhatsApp conversations between Lemus and Lopez Cambara discussing their plan. Evidence also included items recovered during an execution of a search warrant at a home shared by Lopez Cambrar and Lemus, including the jewelry stolen and the shotgun used.
Lemus and Lopez Cambara were arrested and charged on Dec. 9, 2020. Lemus pleaded guilty to Robbery in the First Degree for her role in the crime and Hernandez Abanao pleaded guilty to Attempted Murder in the Second Degree for his role in the crime. Both are pending sentencing.
Cambara is represented by John Halverson and Christopher Gioe. He is due back in court for sentencing on January 13, 2023. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Dena Rizopoulos and James O’Rourke of the Major Crimes Bureau.
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