A Port Jefferson Station couple has pleaded guilty to their roles in the brutal stabbing of a man on the Setauket-Port Jefferson Station Greenway Trail.
On June 17, 2021, Jose Martinez-Vazquez, 25, followed Benjamin Flores-Mendez, 39, into the Port Jefferson Station entrance of the Greenway Trail. Martinez-Vazquez viciously stabbed Flores-Mendez multiple times. During the attack, Martinez-Vazquez’s girlfriend, Tiffany Diaz-Cabrera, 21, acted as a lookout to ensure the crime went undisturbed. The lifeless body of Flores-Mendez was discovered by good samaritans, who alerted authorities to the grisly scene.
Nearly two years later, on March 5, 2023, Suffolk County homicide detectives arrested Martinez-Vazquez and Diaz-Cabrera for their heinous acts.
Martinez-Vazquez was arrested at the corner of Crystal Brook Hollow Road and Hallock Avenue. Diaz-Cabrera was arrested on Crystal Brook Hollow Road. Martinez-Vazquez and Diaz-Cabrera are both said to be from Port Jefferson Station.
On April 22, 2024, Diaz-Cabrera pleaded guilty to Manslaughter in the First Degree, a Class B violent felony. She is scheduled for sentencing on August 29, 2024. In a subsequent plea on July 25, 2024, Martinez-Vazquez admitted to Murder in the Second Degree, a Class A violent felony. He is set to be sentenced on August 28, 2024.
“These defendants conspired to brutally take the life of Benjamin Flores-Mendez, and then did so in a place where Suffolk County residents should feel safe to walk, hike, or bike,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney. “Violence is never the answer, and we will not rest until anyone committing such wanton acts are brought to justice.”
