A Miami-Dade jury on Friday convicted former county transit worker Gregory Lamart Martin, 56, of attempted felony murder, sexual battery and kidnapping in the July 17, 2009 abduction and rape of an 18-year-old woman. Jurors deliberated for about an hour and a half before returning the verdict. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez set sentencing for June 25, 2026.
According to the Miami Herald, prosecutors said Martin offered the woman a ride near a bus stop, then beat, strangled and raped her before leaving her behind an apartment complex in North Miami-Dade. The victim testified that she was picked up near Northwest 196th Street and 27th Avenue and later woke up behind a building at Northwest 79th Street and Sixth Avenue, as prosecutors showed jurors photos of her injuries. Prosecutor Kioceaia Stenson told the jury the woman repeatedly said, “I was raped. I was raped. I was raped.”
DNA Links Case To Earlier Killing Of 13-Year-Old Girl
Records and court filings show that DNA collected after Martin’s December 2009 arrest was entered into the national CODIS database, where it matched material from the 2009 rape kit and also evidence from the August 2000 killing of 13-year-old Cynteria Phillips. Those links, described in a Third District appellate opinion, prompted detectives to pursue additional charges. Earlier coverage of the Phillips case highlighted gaps in how child-welfare agencies and police tracked runaways and vulnerable teens, which has shaped the broader investigation, according to CBS Miami and court records.
Defense Attacks IDs And Investigation Gaps
Martin took the stand and claimed he had picked the woman up and paid her for sex. Defense attorney Lane Abraham told jurors the case was “full of head-scratchers.” The defense highlighted variations in the victim’s descriptions and earlier misidentifications, and argued that police had not fully chased down a lead involving a wine-red vehicle seen near the scene.
Prosecutors countered that the DNA match and the locations in question firmly tied Martin to the crime. They also indicated that the new conviction could be used in the separate capital case related to the Phillips killing, as reported by the Miami Herald…