Testimony begins in 2022 killing of sa国际传媒官网网页入口 woman
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The case against Jonathan Martinez is as simple as 鈥渕urder, a burger, some Sprite and some lighter fluid,鈥� prosecutor David Waymire told jurors Tuesday, the first day of Martinez鈥檚 trial in the killing of Yasmin Marquez.
Prosecutors said they will show jurors surveillance footage of Martinez buying food at a McDonald鈥檚 and lighter fluid from a Walmart on N.M. 528 before traveling toward U.S. 550, where 20-year-old Marquez鈥檚 body later was found under a pile of dumped roofing material.
Martinez, 23, is charged in 2nd Judicial District Court with first-degree murder in Marquez鈥檚 killing. He is also charged with two counts of tampering with evidence for allegedly driving around with her body in the car for several hours before dumping her remains in a remote area in Rio Rancho. The trial is scheduled through Friday before Judge David Murphy.
Marquez鈥檚 mother, Clara Jaramillo, testified Tuesday that she reported her daughter missing on April 15, 2022, after noticing her vehicle was gone and the victim was not answering her cellphone. The victim had just returned in early April from Ciudad Ju谩rez, where she had been staying with Martinez for several months. Marquez returned alone, stating she had felt threatened after Martinez put a gun to her head, witnesses testified.
The day after Marquez was reported missing, deputies found her vehicle partially burned in Corrales.
After receiving location data from Marquez鈥檚 and Martinez鈥檚 cellphones through a search warrant, deputies were able to track the pair going to Kirtland Park late on the night on April 14. According to the victim鈥檚 best friend, Ketzia Loya, one of the final texts she received from the victim stated, 鈥淚mma get killed,鈥� with a skull emoji, alerting Loya that Martinez was returning from Mexico and Marquez was concerned about her safety.
According to Loya, after returning from Ju谩rez, Marquez told Loya about the abuse she suffered from Martinez.
On May 2, 2022, Martinez was arrested and found in possession of the victim鈥檚 phone.
Martinez sent Marquez a series of text messages, including, 鈥淚 ain鈥檛 good enough for you so ima just kill you鈥� and 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 love me,鈥� according to a search warrant affidavit.
Prosecutors say they relied on Snapchat, Facebook and cellphone messages along with location data to show Martinez鈥檚 involvement in Marquez鈥檚 killing.
The text messages show a history of abuse and the intent to kill, with Martinez repeatedly telling Marquez he wouldn鈥檛 allow her to leave him and he would physically harm her if she did, prosecutors told the judge Tuesday.
Martinez鈥檚 attorney, Stephanie Gulley, told jurors the text messages were speculative and did not have enough context to use as evidence.
In August, Martinez was acquitted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in an unrelated case.
