Westbury Man Sentenced to Prison for Killing Uniondale Man Over a Woman: DA

A Westbury man was sentenced Wednesday to 21 years to life in prison for fatally shooting a Uniondale man he was in a dispute with over a woman in January 2016, Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas said.

According to the DA, Joel Arquimides Ayala Deras, 35, shot and killed German Ismael Saravia Melendez, 37, in front of his Irving Place home in Uniondale on January 26, 2016.

“This calculating defendant stalked his victim for several months, waiting for the right opportunity to take his life,” Singas said in a press release. “Mr. Melendez was the victim of senseless gun violence and was only 37 years old at the time of his death.”

On the date of the shooting, Ayala Deras spotted Saravia Melendez digging a parking spot for his car in the snow. He drove a block away from where he saw his target and tried to load a .44 caliber gun that jammed and he did not try to clear the malfunction, the DA said. He then loaded a shotgun, drove up to Saravia Melendez and shot him twice, once in the bicep and the back, the DA said. Ayala Deras drove away from the scene, but returned a short time later to shoot Saravia Melendez two additional times in the back of the head, the DA said.

Ayala Deras was arrested after authorities observed a vehicle that matched the description of a tan Toyota Corolla leaving the scene. Police said they discovered three guns including a .44 caliber handgun, a shotgun, a .380 caliber handgun and shotgun shells on the passenger seat of the car. The shotgun casings at the scene were a ballistics match to the shotgun found in his car, the DA said.

The DA said Ayala Deras admitted to keeping guns in his car and driving past Saravia Melendez’s home 30 different times over the course of several months to find an opportunity to kill him.

Ayala Deras pleaded guilty on November 21 to second-degree murder and faced a maximum sentence of 25 years to life.

Image via NCDA