Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced a Freeport man was convicted today for his role in the October 2021 murder of a 23-year-old man in Baldwin.
Darin Semple, 22, of Freeport, was convicted Monday after a jury trial before Judge Helene Gugerty of Murder in the Second Degree (an A-I felony); Robbery in the First Degree (a B violent felony); and Robbery in the Second Degree (a C violent felony). Semple is due back in court for sentencing on May 3, 2024, and faces up to 25 years to life in prison.
“Darin Semple used a planned marijuana deal as the lure to ambush and kill 23-year-old Rafael Delossantos on a Baldwin street, shooting him twice in his car and making off with the marijuana,” said DA Donnelly. “Rafael was a young man with a family who loved him. That family endured his loss and sat every day during this defendant’s trial to ensure justice was done. We thank the jury for their service and verdict in this case, and we continue to keep Rafael’s family in our thoughts.”
DA Donnelly said that on October 25, 2021, at approximately 1:51 p.m. on Victoria Street in Baldwin, Semple, co-defendant Devin Obleanis, and another unapprehended suspect, met with 23-year-old Rafael Delossantos. Obleanis text messaged the victim and agreed to meet with the intention to buy marijuana.
The defendants pulled up behind the victim in their car, entered the victim’s vehicle and held Delossantos at gunpoint. The three defendants then stole the marijuana and shot the victim two times before fleeing. Delossantos died as a result of his injuries.
Semple and Obleanis were both arrested on the Meadowbrook Parkway in North Merrick by detectives of the Nassau County Police Department’s Homicide Squad and the Bureau of Special Operations on December 10, 2021.
The investigation into the unapprehended suspect is ongoing.
Obleanis, 22, of Central Islip, was arraigned on March 25, 2022, before Judge Gugerty and charged with Murder in the Second Degree; Robbery in the First Degree; and Robbery in the Second Degree.
Obleanis pleaded guilty on September 9, 2022, and is due back in court for sentencing on April 15, 2024.
The case is being prosecuted by Bureau Chief Michelle Lewisohn of the Grand Jury Bureau. Semple is represented by Doug Rankin, Esq. Obleanis is represented by Lloyd Nadel, Esq. and Andrea Zellan, Esq.
