A Connecticut man has pleaded guilty to murder in the stray-bullet killing of a Puerto Rican Olympic athlete’s mother.
Jasper Greene of New Haven was one of three men charged in the death of Mabel Martinez Antongiorgi on April 9, 2022. The 56-year-old woman was sewing in her home in Waterbury, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southwest of Hartford, when a bullet flew through a wall and hit her in the head.
Martinez Antongiorgi’s daughter Yarimar Mercado Martinez competed for the family’s native Puerto Rico at the 2016 and COVID-19-delayed 2020 Games. The athlete was in Brazil for another competition when her mother was killed.
As part of his plea deal, Greene faces a 35-year sentence for murder, but has the right to argue for 30 years at his June 3 sentencing, according to a Waterbury Superior Court clerk. The single murder charge carries a mandatory 25-year minimum sentence in Connecticut. Other charges against Greene were dropped as part of the agreement.
According to trial testimony, the fatal shooting stemmed from a dispute that one of the suspects, Franklin Robinson, 41, had with a man who said hello to his girlfriend. Robinson, Greene and another man shot up a car parked on Martinez Antongiorgi’s street, thinking the man was inside it. The third suspect, Levi Brock, pleaded not guilty to multiple charges in the case, including murder, and is awaiting trial.
Another bystander was wounded but survived.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.