MAYS LANDING – A 22-year-old Pleasantville man pleaded guilty Friday, April 18 to the 2005 shooting death of an Atlantic Cape Community College student at an Egg Harbor Township party, Atlantic County Prosecutor Theodore Housel said.

Gregory Martinez pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter and is expected to be sentenced to 15 years in prison May 30. Martinez must serve 85 percent of the prison term before parole eligibility. Upon release, he will be subject to five years of parole supervision, Housel said.

Martinez, who has no prior record, admitted during the plea hearing before Superior Court Judge Albert Garofolo that on July 1, 2005, he shot and killed Ray Diaz, 19,  during a fight at a party in a side yard during the course of the party. Martinez said other people were involved in the fight, and he had heard that several had knives.

During questioning about his understanding of the plea agreement, Martinez told the judge that he feared for his and his family’s safety when the fight broke out.

First Assistant Prosecutor Murray Talasnik, who prosecuted the state’s case, told the court that the Diaz family was disappointed with the terms of the plea agreement. But he said their dismay arose not from the assessment of the available evidence, but from their sorrow at having lost their son.

After Judge Garofolo accepted the plea agreement, he commended the Diaz family for their dignity and restraint during multiple prior court proceedings and offered his condolences to both the victim’s and the defendant’s families.