After a three-day trial, a Rio Arriba County jury convicted Kevin Martinez on Dec. 5, of voluntary manslaughter for the 2022 killing of his neighbor, Elmer Sanchez Jr. in Hernandez.
A sentencing date has not been set but Martinez faces a maximum sentence of six years on the charge, with a possible enhancement of five years for using a firearm during the killing.
Martinez shot Sanchez Jr., 36, in the chest, killing him, following a dispute earlier in the day over who shot Sanchez’s dog.
The First Judicial District Attorney’s Office confirmed the jury’s verdict on Tuesday when reached by phone. The verdict had not been entered into the court record by press time.
Rio Arriba County Deputy Andres Sanchez wrote in an affidavit for an arrest warrant that problems started after Sanchez Jr.’s dog was shot and his father had to put the dog down.
At some point, there was a confrontation and Martinez shot Sanchez Jr., hitting him in the chest, although the man who initially took the blame for the shooting, Jerrid Maestas, said they were fired at first.
Deputies initially arrested Maestas on a charge of murder for Sanchez’s death, but then dropped those charges in favor of tampering with evidence and possession of a firearm, after prosecutors alleged in court documents that Maestas made a deal with Martinez’s grandmother that he would not mention Martinez’s involvement, and neither would she, and she would not tell police that he had a gun, which is illegal because he has previously been convicted of a felony. Sanchez’s bullet wound did not match the gun Maestas had. Maestas pleaded guilty to those two charges, according to court documents.
Deal in Rape Case
Martinez pleaded guilty on Sept. 23 to charges of kidnapping, child rape and bribery of a witness in a plea deal that sets his sentence at seven to 15 years. He was on pre-trial release in the rape case, staying at his grandmother’s trailer in a trailer park, when he shot and killed Sanchez Jr.. The plea deal also dismissed a second case, where he was accused of breaking into the Northern New Mexico College.
According to the plea deal, Martinez faces supervised probation of five to 20 years after getting out on whatever sentence the judge decides.
No sentencing date in the rape case has been set. Regardless of the sentence he receives, he will be required to serve 80% of it before he is released because kidnapping and rape are serious violent offenses.
When charges are not serious violent offenses, prisoners are eligible to receive good time, effectively allowing for release after serving 50% of a sentence.
Martinez picked up a 14-year-old girl in April 2020 and said he was going to drive her around town, but instead took her to his house in Hernandez, took her phone and held her captive in his house for two weeks, raping her twice a day for nine days she was held captive — a that total of 18 times — New Mexico State Police Agent Shane Faulkner wrote in an affidavit for an arrest warrant.
The girl finally escaped after getting her phone back and called her aunt’s boyfriend for help. He picked her up as Martinez chased her on foot.
She reported the rape to her mother, who told her she could report it to law enforcement “if she wanted” and then realized she was pregnant as a result of the rape, Faulkner wrote.