{"id":622,"date":"2026-05-18T17:31:33","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T17:31:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=622"},"modified":"2026-05-18T17:31:33","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T17:31:33","slug":"former-county-transit-worker-convicted-of-miami-dade-rape-17-years-later","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=622","title":{"rendered":"Former county transit worker convicted of Miami-Dade rape 17 years later"},"content":{"rendered":"<article><!-- --><!-- --><!-- WPS-5038 -- removed the script from WPS and added the placeholder for trinity player --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- CONTENT --><!--[--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>A man accused of kidnapping and raping an 18-year-old woman \u2014 also facing the death penalty in a separate case involving the sexual assault and murder of a 13-year-old girl \u2014 was found guilty years after the crime.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=620\">Next big move for Rick Ross may not involve music or chicken wings<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Jurors convicted Gregory Lamart Martin, 56, of attempted felony murder, sexual battery and kidnapping charges stemming from the July 17, 2009, rape. The jury deliberated for an hour-and-half on Friday night.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Martin, a former county transit worker, beat, strangled and raped the woman after offering her a ride, prosecutor say. He then dumped the bruised woman in a grassy area behind an apartment complex in North Miami-Dade.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>DNA linked Martin to the rape \u2014 and to the murder of Cynteria Phillips, a chronic runaway who had shuffled in and out of foster homes. Investigators obtained Martin\u2019s DNA after he was arrested in December 2009 for allegedly trying to kill his ex-girlfriend. He was found not guilty of kidnapping his ex but was convicted of domestic battery by strangulation.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Martin\u2019s conviction for the rape is a win for prosecutors, who likely intend to introduce the judgment in the death penalty case. Cynteria\u2019s killing \u2014 and the girl\u2019s history of abuse \u2014 changed how child welfare workers track runaway children.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Cynteria\u2019s naked body was found in August 2000 on a grassy swale next to Miami Edison High School. Martin told detectives he had never met the girl or had sex with her, according to his arrest warrant.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<h2>A violent rape<\/h2>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>During the trial, the rape victim tearfully recounted how she was waiting on a bus stop near Northwest 196th Street and 27th Avenue when a stranger in a wine red vehicle pulled up and offered her a ride. She accepted the ride \u2014 and ended up with a lifetime of trauma.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The woman said she was beaten and choked for hours. She said she told the man she was pregnant in the hopes he would stop battering her. Prosecutors showed jurors photos of the victim\u2019s injuries, which include visible bruises, scratches and marks on her face.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Martin, prosecutors say, raped the woman a second time and \u201ctried to choke the life out of her\u201d before dumping her behind an apartment complex at Northwest 79th Street and Sixth Avenue.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>But when Martin took the stand and testified in his defense, he said he picked up the woman and paid her for sex. He maintained a calm demeanor as he answered attorneys\u2019 questions.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=618\">Florida Keys sheriff urges calm following report Cuban drones could hit Key West<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>In closing arguments, prosecutor Kioceaia Stenson pointed out how DNA found inside the victim matched Martin. Stenson also told the jury the rapes occurred in locations Martin knew well: The woman was raped at the apartment complex where Martin\u2019s brother lived and was left behind a building on a secluded one-way street.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The victim, who identified different men as her attacker several times, was not in a \u201cclear emotional state\u201d when she discussed the sexual assault with investigators and medical personnel, the prosecutor said.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut what she has been consistent about: \u2018I was raped. I was raped. I was raped,\u2019\u201d Stenson said.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The case, attorney Lane Abraham told jurors, was \u201cfull of head-scratchers.\u201d As he spoke, he poked holes in the victim\u2019s account, highlighting a slew of inconsistencies:<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The woman provided varying descriptions of her attacker, providing different height, weight, build and accents, the attorney said. She identified different men in photo line-ups, although all the men she selected had hair on their head.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Martin, Abraham said, is bald and didn\u2019t have hair back in 2009.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis might be the first time he\u2019s happy he doesn\u2019t have hair,\u201d Abraham said, putting his hands on Martin\u2019s head.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Abraham also said there was no connection between Martin and the wine red vehicle the victim identified to investigators. Police, he said, did not thoroughly investigate the car, despite it being impounded since 2009. A DNA swab completed this year did not yield any results.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Addressing the jury a final time, Stenson focused on how strange it was that Martin remembered specific details \u2014 including the brown pants and silver jacket \u2014 the woman wore on the night of the incident. Martin had testified that he had seen more than 400 sex workers in his lifetime.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey were the details of a rape,\u201d Stenson said.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez will sentence Martin on June 25.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=616\">Sargassum is starting to pile up in South Florida. Here\u2019s what to know<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--]--><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gregory Martin was convicted of raping an 18-year-old woman after picking her up from a bus stop in 2009. He is facing death penalty for teen girl\u2019s murder<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":621,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Former county transit worker convicted of Miami-Dade rape 17 years later - Florida Moving Chronicle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=622\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former county transit worker convicted of Miami-Dade rape 17 years later - Florida Moving Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Gregory Martin was convicted of raping an 18-year-old woman after picking her up from a bus stop in 2009. 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