Anthony Santiesteban, of Centereach, sentenced to 40 years for fatal shooting of Martina Thompson, of East Patchogue

A Centereach man was sentenced to 40 years in prison for fatally shooting a woman in 2022 in what was believed to be a random encounter, Suffolk prosecutors said Thursday.

Acting Supreme Court Justice Anthony S. Senft Jr. sentenced Anthony Santiesteban, 32, after a jury convicted him of second-degree murder and other charges in the October 2022 fatal shooting of Martina Thompson, 33, of East Patchogue. Thompson was the mother of at least three children, prosecutors said. 

"This defendant deliberately took the life of Martina Thompson, whose children will now have to live without their mother," Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney said in a statement. "Murder does not just end one life, it devastates families, friends, and entire communities. While no punishment can ever truly compensate for the loss of a loved one, this sentence ensures the defendant will face severe consequences for this grievous act and will no longer pose a danger to the public."

The Suffolk District Attorney’s Office said surveillance video played at Santiesteban’s trial showed him talking to Thompson in a Coram parking lot next to his Jeep Cherokee in the early morning hours of Oct. 29, 2022.

Santiesteban was then seen on the video following Thompson into a fenced area at the rear of the parking lot and then, at about 1:03 a.m., a gunshot is heard on the video recording, prosecutors said.

Santiesteban was then seen walking out of the fenced area with a semiautomatic handgun in his hand, prosecutors said, adding that Santiesteban then entered his Jeep and left the scene.

At 1:25 a.m., the police found Thompson with a gunshot wound to her face, lying in a pool of blood, prosecutors said. She was taken to Long Island Community Hospital in Patchogue where she was pronounced dead.

Days later, police recovered a loaded and defaced 9 mm handgun in Santiesteban’s bedroom after investigators executed a search warrant, prosecutors said. Ballistics testing confirmed the bullet casing found next to the victim’s body came from the gun found in the bedroom, prosecutors said.

A jury found Santiesteban guilty of second-degree murder, a class A felony; two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and one count of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

In a statement, Santiesteban's attorney, Jonathan Manley, said: "Mr. Santiesteban maintains his innocence in this matter and looks forward to a successful appeal."

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.