A man who taught astronomy on the streets of the Bronx is arrested for murdering a girl in 1999

By Elisha Fieldstadt -

A New Yorker known for teaching Bronx children astronomy on city sidewalks was arrested Tuesday in connection with the murder of a 13-year-old girl, authorities said.

Detectives used a DNA sample from a relative of Joseph Martínez, better known as

to link him to the murder of Minerliz Soriano, according to a statement from the Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark's office.

They charged him with two counts of murder in the second degree.

Minerliz SorianoNBC 4

New York prosecutors say it is the first time they have closed a case in that city using the DNA tracing technique of a family member.

[They locate the young Latina from Florida who disappeared after going on a trip with her boyfriend]

Soriano was walking home from school on the afternoon of February 24, 1999,

.

His body was found four days later, wrapped in a garbage bag inside a container at the back of a video store.

A genetic sample taken from the semen found on Soriano's sweatshirt led detectives first to Martinez's father, who is dead, and then matched Martinez's DNA.

"This beautiful girl was treated in an inhuman way. It has been 22 years since her life was cruelly blinded, but detectives never gave up on justice for her and her family," Clark said.

This beautiful girl was treated in a subhuman way. "

Darcel D. Clark district attorney of the bronx

Martinez, who lives in New Rochelle, north of the Bronx, is known on the streets of New York City as

and has an independent educational project called Jupiter Joe's Sidewalk Astronomy.

For years, the 49-year-old has installed his powerful portable telescope on the sidewalks of the Bronx, hoping that passersby would dare to take a look at the sky as he explained what they were seeing.

Perpetrator of Michigan high school shooting to be tried on terrorism and murder charges

Dec. 1, 202 102: 00

His website calendar indicates that he planned to settle in at a children's park in the Bronx this Thursday night.

It is unclear if Martinez has an attorney and did not respond to a request for comment from our sister network NBC News on Wednesday.

He was arraigned on Tuesday and his next court hearing is scheduled for March 7.