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Trial begins in fatal shooting in Downtown ABQ
An sa国际传媒官网网页入口 police officer told jurors Tuesday, on the first day of Jonathan Gabriel Martinez鈥檚 murder trial, that he was driving on Central Avenue when a bullet struck the windshield of his patrol car.
Sgt. Garrett Maxson said he saw blood on his arms and thought he had been shot.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know where I was bleeding,鈥 Maxson said, his voice cracking with emotion. 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 breathe. I thought I was going to die.鈥
A barrage of gunfire from an AK-47 rifle at Fourth and Central on July 10, 2021, killed Trevonte Robbins and seriously injured a second man in a shooting that prosecutors describe as a case of mistaken identity.
Glass and bullet fragments also struck Maxson, who was transported to a hospital and treated for injuries to his left arm. The officer told jurors that he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the shooting.
鈥淚鈥檓 very lucky to be here,鈥 he said.
Martinez, 23, is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, aggravated battery and aggravated assault. His trial in 2nd Judicial District Court is scheduled through Friday before state District Judge Bruce Fox.
Prosecutors allege that Martinez and a co-defendant, Asad Ahmed Moody, were looking for a man who had beaten Moody a week earlier.
The pair misidentified one of Robbins鈥 companions as the man they were seeking and fired at the group as they were walking on Central, prosecutor David Waymire told jurors.
Moody, 22, pleaded guilty in May 2023 to one count of second-degree murder and other charges and was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
Robbins 鈥渨as in the wrong place at the wrong time,鈥 Waymire said in opening statements.
Martinez was driving a getaway car when Moody exited the vehicle and fired eight shots from an AK-47 on Fourth, just east of Amy Biehl Charter High School.
Robbins was fatally shot in the face. His companion, Kevin Johnson, testified Tuesday that a single gunshot passed through his abdomen and lodged in his left arm.
Jurors will view security video from the school that shows the shooting in a bustling Downtown neighborhood, Waymire said.
鈥淔rankly, it鈥檚 a wonder that more people weren鈥檛 hit,鈥 Waymire told jurors. 鈥淭he evidence will show that Jonathan Martinez intended for this to happen; he helped make it happen. He allowed it to happen by being the driver.鈥
Martinez鈥檚 attorney, Stephanie Gulley, said in opening statements Tuesday that prosecutors are asking jurors to make 鈥渃ircumstantial leaps鈥 based on videos and cellphone records to reach false conclusions.
Martinez was not driving the car involved in Robbins鈥 killing, she told jurors.
鈥淚 would submit to you that there is no evidence that my client was driving this vehicle,鈥 Gulley said. 鈥淢r. Waymire calls it Jonathan Martinez鈥檚 vehicle. He doesn鈥檛 have any proof of that.鈥
Waymire alleged that the fatal series of events began on July 3, 2021 鈥 a week before the killing 鈥 when Martinez鈥檚 co-defendant, Asad Moody, was beaten by a man in Downtown sa国际传媒官网网页入口.
鈥淎sad Moody is Downtown,鈥 Waymire told jurors. 鈥淗e gets in a fight, he gets beat up, and he鈥檚 mad and he wants revenge for that fight.鈥
On the night of the killing, Moody and Martinez misidentified one of Robbins鈥 companions as the man who beat Moody a week earlier, Waymire said.
Waymire told jurors that prosecutors will use video recordings, Snapchat and Facebook messages, and cellphone records to show Martinez鈥檚 involvement in Robbins鈥 killing.
A third man who was allegedly involved in the incident, Isney Lafirme Pau, 24, pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to commit aggravated battery and was sentenced to 18 months of supervised probation.
Charges were dismissed in August 2022 against a fourth co-defendant, Darryus Chavez, 25, because evidence linking him to the incident was security video that lacked sufficient clarity to identify him, court records show.