New Rochelle Street Astronomer, 'Jupiter Joe,' Learns Fate Years After Killing 13-Year-Old Girl

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — A man who was once lauded as a role model will now likely spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced that 54-year-old Joseph Martinez, a/k/a Jupiter Joe, of New Rochelle, was sentenced on Thursday to 25 years to life in prison for the 1999 murder of 13-year-old Minerliz Soriano, the first case in NYC solved using familial DNA.

He was found guilty by a jury of two counts of second-degree murder (felony and intentional), on November 14, 2025.

SEE ALSO:

• 'Jupiter Joe' Guilty: New Rochelle 'Street Astronomer' Killed 13-Year-Old Girl, Jury Finds

• New Rochelle Man Arrested In 1999 Killing Of 13-Year-Old Girl

"The defendant sexually abused Minerliz and killed her," DA Clark said. "He left her body in a dumpster in Co-op City, where she was found on February 28, 1999. Bronx detectives and my ADAs never gave up in the quest for justice for this beautiful little girl. Their relentless dedication and compassion, coupled with advanced technology in DNA, led to the arrest and conviction."

"Today is the final chapter, after 26 years of anguish, and I hope this sentence brings solace to Minerliz' family and the childhood friend who compellingly testified at trial. Minerliz' dream of flying to the stars as an astronaut was dashed, but her light will never dim for her loved ones."

According to court documents, on Feb. 24, 1999, Minerliz Soriano was reported missing after leaving school — never making it back to her home on Pelham Parkway. Her body was found bound and wrapped in a plastic bag inside a dumpster on Bartow Avenue, near the Bay Plaza shopping center four days later. Minerliz had been sexually abused, and her neck was compressed, causing her death.

"She left school at 2:20 p.m. and never made it home," Capt. John Creegan, the commander of the major crimes unit in the Bronx, told The New York Times in March of 1999.

The crime would go unsolved, but not forgotten by the NYPD for the next two decades.

On November 29, 2021, police arrested the then 49-year-old Martinez on murder charges in connection with the unsolved homicide investigation. Martinez maintained a public life in the years since the killing, and prior to his arrest in 2021, calling himself Jupiter Joe, because he taught astronomy to kids in parks and at community events.

In April of 2019, the NYPD and the Bronx DA's Office submitted a joint application to get results from the familial DNA system. A DNA sample from a semen stain on the victim's sweatshirt led to Martinez. Investigators then obtained a DNA sample from Martinez, which matched the DNA found on the victim's sweatshirt.

It was the first case in NYC that was solved using familial DNA.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant DA John Miras, Senior Homicide Counsel, and Assistant DA Che Van Eer of Trial Bureau 30, under the supervision of Burim Namani, Deputy Chief of the Homicide Bureau, Christine Scaccia, Chief of the Homicide Bureau, and under the overall supervision of James Brennan, Deputy Chief of the Trial Division, and Theresa Gottlieb, Chief of the Trial Division.

DA Clark thanked Senior Homicide Advocate Laura Ramirez of the BXDA Crime Victims Assistance Bureau, Assistant DA David Slott, Chief of the Forensic Sciences Unit, and Lindsey Cooper, Forensic Analyst, for their assistance in the investigation.

She also thanked NYPD Detective Dominic Robinson, retired Detective Malcom Reiman, both of Bronx Homicide Task Force, retired Detective James Menton, and retired NYPD Detective Bernard Ryan of the 45th Precinct, who was the original case investigator.