It started as a grim discovery inside a tent off Suffolk Avenue in Central Islip. What police found inside would quickly unravel into one of the most disturbing killings in the area in recent memory.
A 39-year-old man, later identified as Candido Guadalupe Saravia Martinez, was found dead on February 18, 2025. Inside the tent, investigators recovered a machete and a knife, both stained with blood. The violence was undeniable but what happened next would become the turning point in the case.
According to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, surveillance footage captured three men running from the tent immediately after the attack.
That video would prove critical.
Prosecutors said the three defendants, Brayan Heredia Escobar, 20, Jhon Lopez Campos, 19, and Julio Beltran, 40, worked together in a brutal assault that escalated beyond control. During court proceedings, Lopez Campos and Beltran admitted they held the victim down while he was repeatedly beaten with the handle of a machete. Lopez Campos then handed a knife to Heredia Escobar and directed him to stab the victim.
The Suffolk County Medical Examiner later determined the victim died from a combination of blunt force trauma, strangulation, and a stab wound to the neck.
The case moved through the courts over the following year, ending in guilty pleas from all three men.
Now, the sentences are final.
Beltran was sentenced to 21 years in prison, Heredia Escobar received 20 years, and Lopez Campos—described as playing a leading role in the attack—was sentenced to 25 years behind bars.
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney called the killing a “senseless loss of life,” noting that while nothing can undo what happened, the outcome brings a measure of justice.
The case serves as a stark reminder of how quickly violence can escalate—and how even a brief moment caught on camera can change everything.
As with all criminal cases, the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. In this case, that proof came through their own admissions and the footage that showed them running from the scene.
