Glen Cove Man Indicted for Stabbing Ex-Girlfriend to Death

The ex-boyfriend of the woman who was killed in a Glen Cove stabbing in March was indicted Monday and faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison, Acting Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced.

Jose Cartagena, 54, of Glen Cove, was arraigned on second degree murder, third degree criminal possession of a weapon and fourth degree criminal possession of a weapon charges.

On March 26, Yanira Estelle Canjura Martinez, 32, was walking south on Pearsall Avenue in Glen Cove to pick up her 5-year-old daughter when she was stabbed multiple times by Cartagena in a parking lot at 3:15 p.m., police said.

Martinez was pronounced dead at a local hospital at 4:02 p.m.

She had separated from Cartagena a week earlier, the DA reports.

Nassau County homicide detectives had to travel to northern California to arrest Cartagena on Monday, April 6.

“The defendant is accused of brutally murdering his ex-girlfriend in broad daylight and then fleeing to the state to California, where he was picked up two weeks later,” Singas said in a statement. “My office will prosecute this horrific crime to the fullest extent of the law.”

State Supreme Court Justice Angelo Delligatti continued bail at remand.

Cartagena is due back in court on Oct. 7.