Witnesses began to take the stand last week at the preliminary
hearing regarding the murder of 18-year-old Larry Martinez in
2008.
Witnesses began to take the stand last week at the preliminary hearing regarding the murder of 18-year-old Larry Martinez in 2008.
The hearing started April 26 at the Hall of Justice in San Jose and is slated to last through this week.
On Nov. 11, 2008, Martinez was shot and killed by a rival gang in broad daylight near Sixth and Church streets, according to police. Invoking a rarely-used rule – the provocative act murder theory – District Attorney Dolores Carr charged not only the man police believe pulled the trigger, alleged Sureño gang member Cristian Jimenez, but also two of Martinez’s friends and a cousin for contributing to his death for the benefit of a criminal street gang.
Robert Barrios, 21, Heather Ashford, 19, and Angel Solorzano, 20, did not intend to kill Martinez, their attorneys said. But even though they didn’t fire the gun that killed their friend and cousin, the three face conspiracy and murder charges for contributing to Martinez’s death during a clash with a rival gang. Martinez, Solorzano and Barrios were Norteño gang members, police said.
Ashford and Martinez were cousins, and Barrios and Solorzano grew up with Martinez, according to Joann Duran, who is Martinez’s grandmother and Ashford’s godmother.
Jimenez, 22, also faces a murder charge and a felony gun possession charge for pulling the trigger of the gun that killed Martinez, according to court documents.
About half an hour before the shooting, Jimenez and two other Sureños who are still at large – Edgardo Centeno, 20, and an unnamed juvenile – threw a rock at the car Martinez and Solorzano rode in while Ashford drove, according to police. After a brief discussion, Ashford, Martinez and Solorzano picked up Barrios and returned to confront the Sureños, police said. Armed with a small bat, Martinez and his friends snuck up on the Sureños from behind, provoking the rival gang members to turn and shoot, prosecutors said.
The four codefendants’ preliminary hearing was set to continue at 9 a.m. today in Department 39 of the Hall of Justice in San Jose. Judge Ron Del Pozzo is presiding over the hearing.
