Suspect Arrested in 1999 Cold Case of Bronx Girl Found Strangled, Tossed in Dumpster

 

Bethany Lee

Mr. Ippolito

Forensics//EF Odd

January 7, 2022

 

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/suspect-arrested-in-1999-cold-case-of-bronx-girl-found-strangled-tossed-in-dumpster/3424610/

 

Hemphill, Anjali. “Suspect Arrested in 1999 Cold Case of Bronx Girl Found Strangled, Tossed                in Dumpster.” NBC New York, NBC New York, 30 Nov. 2021, 

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/suspect-arrested-in-1999-cold-case-of-bronx-girl-found-strangled-tossed-in-dumpster/3424610/. 

 

Anjali’s Hemphill’s November 30, 2021 article titled “Suspect Arrested in 1999 Cold Case of Bronx Girl Found Strangled, Tossed in Dumpster” discusses the recent arrest of Joseph Martinez, the suspect responsible for the 1999 murder of Minerliz Soriano. The findings that led up to this point are very important in order to ensure that justice is brought to a crime’s victim and perpetrator. The article outlines how it took 22 years for investigators to conclude that Martinez is the crime’s perpetrator--in fact, investigators said that science is exactly what got them the answers Minerliz’s family has so desperately been searching for all these years. The author goes on to quote Minerliz’s family members who remained distraught, sad, and of mixed emotions due to the lack of sufficient evidence to convict anyone sooner. At the center of this case was the scientific breakthrough relating to DNA evidence that allowed investigators to finally solve the case, as no arrests were ever made until this one. 

The case involved the grisly slaying of a Bronx teen. The body of 13-year-old Minerliz  Soriano was found in a dumpster in Coop County back in 1999. The girl had last been seen leaving her school on Wallace Avenue in February of that year, and her family searched the area for days following her disappearance. Minerliz’s body was later found by a homeless man, wrapped in plastic inside a dumpster behind what used to be a Hollywood Video store. No arrests were ever made in the case that eventually went cold. In late November 2021, Joseph Martinez was arrested and faces murder charges. The 49-year-old did not answer any questions as police led him away in handcuffs at the Bronx police station. 

Overall, Anjali Hemphill did a great job of outlining this 1999 cold case. He first briefly outlined the details of the cold case and then discussed the enduring sense of inconclusivity until now. As Americans, it is of utmost importance that each and every individual be granted due process under the law and that people are convicted on the basis of substantiated, corroborating evidence. As we move forward, we strive as a nation to seek justice wherever there is a lack of it. Some weaknesses of Hemphill’s article are that he did not provide enough detail about the case itself. It would also have been helpful if he gave a better summary of the case, what evidence they had, and what evidence they recently unearthed that led to this conviction. It would be interesting to learn how Martinez was free for 22 years before finally being held accountable for his brutal actions.