Elizabeth Men Sentenced For Roles In 2023 New Year’s Day Shooting Death
Friday, June 13, 2025, 6:30 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,
ELIZABETH, NJ.- Last Friday, three Elizabeth, New Jersey, men were sentenced to decades in New Jersey State Prison for their roles in the 2023 New Year’s Day early morning shooting death of an 18-year-old Bronx, New York, man.
According to Union County Prosecutor William A. Daniel, on Friday, June 6, 2025, Albenys Soto-Fernandez, 26, Jofrandy Diaz-Ramirez, 26, and Yoel Sanchez, 23, all appeared in Union County Superior Court and were sentenced by Superior Court Judge Candido Rodriguez for their January 2025 guilty pleas in the fatal shooting of Vladimir Martinez.
Judge Rodriguez Sentences All Three Men
Judge Rodriguez sentenced Soto-Fernandez to 25 years in State Prison for Aggravated Manslaughter and Conspiracy to Commit Murder. In handing down the sentence, Judge Rodriguez ordered the sentence to be subject to the No Eary Release Act, which will require Soto-Fernandez to serve 85% of his custodial term before becoming eligible for parole.
In addition, Judge Rodriguez sentenced both Diaz-Ramirez and Sanchez to 12 years in State Prison for Conspiracy to Commit Murder and ordered both sentences to be subject to the No Early Release Act, requiring them to serve 85% of their custodial terms before being eligible for parole.
The guilty pleas and Friday’s sentencing stem from an incident that began on January 1, 2023, when, around 4:30 a.m., members of the Elizabeth Police Department responded to reports of gunfire on the 400 Block of 4th Street in the Port Section of the City of Elizabeth. Upon arrival, Police Officers discovered Vladimir Martinez, 18, of the Bronx, New York, unresponsive, having succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds. Mr. Martinez was pronounced deceased at the scene.
