Man pleads guilty to murder for strangling woman in 2009

A 22-year-old Queens man has pleaded guilty to murder in the fatal choking of a woman he met on the street in 2009, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.

Jose Martinez of Corona admitted last week to killing Carmen Saldana, a Fashion Institute of Technology student, on July, 12 2009, prosecutors said.

While riding his bicycle that day, Martinez — who was only 15 years old at the time — encountered Saldana on the street and started talking to her, according to Brown. Martinez then followed the young woman home and once inside her Astoria apartment, which she shared with her mother.

MArtinez and his victim argued and then got into a physical alteration.

Martinez wrapped his hands around the victim’s neck and choked her to death. The medical examiner later ruled her death as homicide due to asphyxiation.

“This was a brutal murder — made all the more horrible because the defendant was just 15 at the time. A young woman’s life was senselessly cut short and the defendant, now an adult, will face a lengthy term behind bars when sentenced next month,” Brown said.

Queens Supreme Court Justice Gregory L. Lasak indicated he will sentence Martinez on Jan. 27, 2016 to 14 years to life in prison as a juvenile offender.