Elmont Man Convicted Of Killing Ex-Girlfriend In 2018: Prosecutors

ELMONT, NY — An Elmont man was convicted for the 2018 murder of his ex-girlfriend at Belmont Racetrack.

Jose Franco-Martinez, 58, was convicted on Tuesday after a jury trial of second-degree murder, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly announced.

“This defendant drove more than 1,000 miles across the country to murder his ex-girlfriend after he began to suspect that she was seeing another man," Donnelly said. "Without warning, on Father’s Day morning in 2018, he showed up to the Belmont Racetrack where she worked, waited for her to appear, and without uttering a single word, viciously attacked her with a knife. He stabbed and cut her 23 times as her co-workers ran over to try and save her life.”

On June 17, 2018, Maria Larin was working as a hot walker inside the stall area of Barn 61 at Belmont Racetrack, walking horses to help them cool down after racing, Donnelly said.

As she worked, Franco-Martinez approached and stabbed her multiple times all over her body with a silver kitchen knife. Larin’s co-worker, who saw the incident, picked up a shovel and hit him in the head with it, Franco-Martinez still managed to run away.

Franco-Martinez is due back in court for sentencing on May 19. He faces a potential maximum of 25 years to life in prison.