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Dennis Jonathan Hernandez Abanao, age 23, was sentenced to 18 years behind bars in Suffolk County Court on Tuesday, Feb. 28. It followed his guilty plea to second-degree attempted murder in the killing of Marco Grisales, of East Hampton, in Riverhead in November 2020.
Prosecutors said Hernandez Abanao was recruited by 42-year–old Alcides Lopez Cambara, of Hampton Bays, to lure Grisales to a buffalo farm in Riverhead, where Grisales was robbed and beaten to death. Lopez Cambara was upset that the man had called his 18-year-old girlfriend asking her to hang out and celebrate his birthday, according to investigators.
Hernandez Abanao’s girlfriend, Tyara Lemus, lured Grisales out under the pretense of celebrating his birthday, first meeting him at a McDonald’s in Riverhead before the two drove in Grisales’ pickup truck to a nearby buffalo farm to “party,” according to prosecutors.
When they arrived, Lopez Cambara, Hernandez Abanao, and an unidentified man were lying in wait. After Grisales and Lemus parked, Lopez Cambara and the unidentified man dragged Grisales out of the car and bludgeoned him to death with the barrel of a shotgun while Hernandez Abanao and Lemus stole jewelry and other valuables from his truck, prosecutors said.
After he was dead, Lopez Cambara tore a gold chain from Grisales’ neck and the three men put his body into the bed of the truck.
Lopez Cambara then drove Grisales’ truck a short distance away from the scene and parked it on Roanoke Avenue, where police later found it partially blocking the roadway. Grisales’ lifeless body was found in the truck’s bed.
Days after the murder, Lemus used an alias to call police and give them information about the men involved in the crime, leading to their arrests.
“This defendant played a role in facilitating the violent and premeditated murder and robbery of the victim who, at the time, was under the impression he was meeting with a woman to celebrate his own birthday,” Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said in a statement.
During the trial, Lemus gave key testimony that was corroborated by surveillance footage that captured Lopez Cambara’s vehicle driving to the murder scene, as well as WhatsApp conversations documenting their plan.
Police also found Grisales’ belongings, along with the murder weapon, inside the couple’s home.
Lemus pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery and is awaiting sentencing.
In December 2022, Lopez Cambara was convicted by a jury of second-degree murder and first-degree robbery. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison in January 2023.
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