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Alcides Lopez Cambara of Hampton Bays was found guilty in the 2020 murder of Marco Grisales of Sag Harbor. COURTESY SUFFOLK COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY
Alcides Lopez Cambara’s murderous jealousy and greed ensured that Marco Grisales would never celebrate another birthday, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney said in a press release announcing a guilty verdict on murder and robbery charges on Tuesday, December 13, which “ensures that this defendant will spend his birthday in prison for many years to come.”
In November 2020, Lopez Cambara, then 40, and his girlfriend Tyara Lemus, then 18, conceived a scheme to rob Grisales, 34, of Sag Harbor, prosecutors said. The Hampton Bays couple were together when the victim called Lemus, asking her to see him on the night of his birthday.
The pair devised a plan to have Lemus lure Grisales to a secluded spot in Riverhead and rob him. Lopez Cambara recruited two other individuals to help him.
But they didn’t simply rob him.
Lemus agreed to meet Grisales at the McDonald’s in Riverhead, and they drove together in his pickup to a nearby buffalo farm to celebrate. Lopez Cambara and two cohorts — one of them identified as Dennis Jonathan Hernandez Abanao, who is described as homeless and 23 years old, the other unidentified — were lying in wait.
Once the couple parked, Lopez Cambara and the unidentified male dragged Grisales out of the car and bludgeoned him to death with the barrel of a shotgun. Hernandez Abanao and Lemus stole jewelry and other valuables from the victim’s car. Before the three men put the victim’s body into the bed of the pickup truck, Lopez Cambara tore a gold chain from his neck, prosecutors said.
Lopez Cambara parked the truck on Roanoke Avenue, a short distance away. It was blocking the road and, after a passerby reported the obstruction, Riverhead Town Police discovered the slain man.
In the days following the murder, Lemus called police and, using an alias, provided information about the other individuals involved in the crime, Tierney said.
On December 9, 2020, Lemus and Lopez Cambara were arrested and charged with murder and robbery. Lemus pleaded guilty to robbery in the first degree for her role in the crime. Hernandez Abanao pleaded guilty to attempted murder in the second degree for his participation. Both are pending sentence.
Testifying at trial, Lemus corroborated what surveillance videos from both McDonald’s and nearby hospital captured: Grisales’s pickup and Lopez Cambara’s vehicle as they traveled to the location of the murder. Evidence also included items recovered during the execution of a search warrant at the home shared by Lopez Cambara and Lemus. Police found the victim’s jewelry and the shotgun used to bludgeon the victim, which was adorned with a distinctive bejeweled skull.
Finally, the couple discussed their plan on What’sApp, and the conversations were found on Lopez Cambara’s phone.
The jury convicted Lopez Cambara of second-degree murder and first-degree robbery. He faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison.
