Connecticut resident receives three-decade prison sentence for inadvertent shooting death of mother of an Olympic athlete
Stray Bullet Tragedy:
A Connecticut man, Jasper Greene, 23, of New Haven, faces a 33-year prison sentence for the death of a Puerto Rican Olympic athlete's mother. The heart-wrenching incident occurred on April 9, 2022, when a bullet flew through a wall, striking Mabel Martinez Antongiorgi, a 56-year-old sewing in her Waterbury home.
Greene's guilty plea to murder was confirmed in February, but his attorney declined to comment on the sentencing that took place in Waterbury Superior Court on Tuesday. The events leading to the shooting were rooted in a dispute that escalated severely.
The victim's daughter, Yarimar Mercado Martinez, competed in rifle shooting for Puerto Rico in the Olympics of 2016, 2021, and 2024, and was in Brazil for another competition when her mother was killed.
A jury convicted another suspect, Franklin Robinson, of murder and other charges in 2023, sentencing him to 90 years in prison. The third suspect, Levi Brock, awaits trial, having pleaded not guilty to multiple charges, including murder.
At the time of her death, Mercado Martinez expressed her heartbreak on social media, questioning why her mother had to endure such a violent fate. She mourned the fact that she couldn't even say goodbye. Martinez Antongiorgi and her husband, John Luis Mercado, had set a date to renew their wedding vows, their daughter wrote at the time of her death.
While the exact nature of the dispute is not fully detailed in the reports, the gravity of the crime and the impact on the Olympic athlete's family are clear. As the legal proceedings continue, mourning and justice for Mabel Martinez Antongiorgi continue to be the focus.
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- In a heart-rending incident reminiscent of war-and-conflicts, a Connecticut man, Jasper Greene, was sentenced to 33 years in prison for murder, leaving behind a grieving family of an Olympic athlete.
- As the trial of the third suspect in the shooting case that took the life of Mabel Martinez Antongiorgi unfolds, politics and crime-and-justice intertwine, presenting a general-news story that highlights the gravity of gun violence and the justice system's response.
