Queens Man Sentenced to Life Without Parole in Commack Murder-for-hire

A Queens man was sentenced to life in prison without parole at Suffolk County Court in Riverhead Tuesday in connection with the murder of a Nesconset man who was killed in Commack in October 2008.

Donovan Raysor, 23, of St. Albans, was charged last month with first-degree murder and second-degree conspiracy for his part in the murder of Attorney James DiMartino, who was killed outside of a restaurant located at 1087 Jericho Tpke. 

According to police, Raysor and Darnell Festus were hired by DiMartino's business partner, Ronald Thornton, to kill DiMartino for $8,000. Thornton feared DiMartino would connect him to a series of fraudulent mortgage deals.

Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said the jurors on the trial recommended that Raysor receive the maximum sentence.

“This victim was executed in a parking lot leaving a widow and four young daughters,” Spota said in a statement. “His conspirators also received the maximum punishment the law allows."

Festus, 25, of Queens and Thornton, 40, of Nesconset are currently serving life sentences in prisons upstate following their first-degree murder convictions last year.