Left To Die: Homeless Man Beaten, Strangled, Stabbed Inside Suffolk Tent; 3 Plead Guilty: DA

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY — Three men have pleaded guilty to manslaughter after the brutal 2025 killing of a homeless man who was beaten, strangled, and stabbed inside an encampment along Suffolk Avenue in Central Islip, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said.

Brayan Heredia Escobar, 20, of Guatemala; Jhon Lopez Campos, 18, of El Salvador; and Julio Beltran, 40, of El Salvador each pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter after causing the death of 39-year-old Candido Guadalupe Saravia Martinez, a Salvadorian national, prosecutors said.

According to court records and the defendants’ admissions during their plea allocutions, Suffolk County police discovered Saravia Martinez’s body on Feb. 18, 2025, inside the tent, just east of Carleton Avenue.

Police observed a rope wrapped around Saravia Martinez’s neck, with visible ligature marks, prosecutors said. He also suffered blunt-force trauma to his face and body, along with a stab wound to the neck, officials said. Investigators said the three men and Saravia Martinez were all living without known addresses in Central Islip at the time.

Inside the tent, police recovered a blood-covered machete and knife lying on top of the victim’s neck, according to prosecutors. The Suffolk County Medical Examiner later determined that Saravia Martinez died from a combination of blunt-force trauma, strangulation, and a stab wound to the neck, authorities said.

Surveillance video obtained from multiple businesses along Suffolk Avenue — including one directly across the street from the tent — showed the three men running from the scene after the attack and entering a nearby laundromat, prosecutors said.

Lopez Campos and Beltran admitted to holding Saravia Martinez down while Lopez Campos repeatedly struck him with the handle of a machete, according to court records. Lopez Campos then handed a knife to Heredia Escobar and directed him to stab him, prosecutors said.

The three men told the court the attack was carried out as revenge for a reported prior altercation with Saravia Martinez that occurred months earlier, prosecutors said.

Lopez Campos pleaded guilty on Jan. 7 before Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice John Collins, officials said. He faces up to 25 years in prison and is scheduled to return to court Feb. 25. He is represented by Christopher Gioe.

Heredia Escobar pleaded guilty on Jan. 8 before Justice Collins, authorities said. He faces up to 20 years in prison and is scheduled to return to court Feb. 26. He is represented by Peter Mayer.

Beltran pleaded guilty on Jan. 14 before Justice Collins, the DA said. He faces up to 22 years in prison and is scheduled to return to court Feb. 23. He is represented by Katherine Fernandez.

The defense attorneys could not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"These defendants brutally beat and stabbed a defenseless man, leaving him to die in a tent on the side of the road," Tierney said. "While nothing can undo this senseless act of violence, these guilty pleas ensure that justice has been served, and these individuals will be held accountable with significant sentences totaling decades in prison."