‘He was let down’: Murder victim’s family says accused shooter should’ve been in jail
RIO ARRIBA COUNTY, N.M. (KRQE) – More than a dozen charges accusing him of kidnapping and repeatedly raping a teenage girl were not enough to keep Kevin Martinez behind bars. While out, awaiting trial in that case, the Rio Arriba Sheriff’s Office said he shot and killed his neighbor. The neighbor’s family and First Judicial District Attorney spoke to KRQE about what they call repeated failures of the state’s justice system.
Elmer Sanchez, Jr. died the night of October 17, 2022, in his Hernandez, New Mexico neighborhood. “We heard gunshots,” his Mom, Yvette Romero, said. “So, she called Elmer and that’s when he said ‘I just got shot.’”
On the night of his murder, Sanchez Jr.’s family gathered at the hospital to speak with the Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Office to try to piece together how the shooting unfolded. And even the Sergeant handling their case was shaken up. “Elmer’s the best guy ever, man. I can’t even tell you guys enough,” he told the family.
Elmer Sanchez Jr. (Courtesy of Elmer Sanchez, Jr.’s family) Elmer Sanchez Jr. with family. (Courtesy of Elmer Sanchez, Jr.’s family) Elmer Sanchez Jr. with his two kids. (Courtesy of Elmer Sanchez, Jr.’s family) Elmer Sanchez Jr. with daughter. (Courtesy of Elmer Sanchez, Jr.’s family) Elmer Sanchez Jr.’s with son. (Courtesy of Elmer Sanchez Jr.’s family) Elmer Sanchez Jr. with fiancée. (Courtesy of Elmer Sanchez Jr.’s family) Elmer Sanchez Jr. with mom and sister. (Courtesy of Elmer Sanchez, Jr.’s family) Elmer Sanchez Jr. (Courtesy of Elmer Sanchez, Jr.’s family) Elmer Sanchez Jr. as a child. (Courtesy of Elmer Sanchez, Jr.’s family) Elmer Sanchez, Jr. with his sister. (Courtesy of Elmer Sanchez, Jr.’s family. Elmer Sanchez Jr. (Courtesy of Elmer Sanchez, Jr.’s family)
At this point, the sheriff’s office had one man in custody – Jr.’s neighbor, Jerrid Maestas. He admitted to a road rage incident with Jr.’s Dad before hearing gunshots. It was later learned that the father and son were returning from a quick trip to the gas station when the argument and shooting happened. The sheriff’s office cannot pinpoint who had a gun or who shot first but said Maestas murdered Elmer Sanchez, Jr.
“The moment we found out that my brother didn’t make it was probably the biggest heartbreak that you just feel,” Jr.’s sister, Nyana Gutierrez said. His fiancée, Delilah Emanuel, added, “He was a big caretaker. He was our rock. And not just with our little family, the whole family. Yeah, he was everything to everybody.”
Four months after losing him, Sanchez Jr.’s family finds out police arrested the wrong guy. Emanuel shared, “It’s scary because he was our protector, so we no longer had him anymore.” The sheriff’s office said Kevin Martinez took Sanchez Jr. away from the family.
Body camera footage captured by deputies throughout the murder investigation showed they handcuffed and questioned Martinez on the scene. He told them, “I know Jerrid – he yelled out his name. My name is Jerrid Maestas and I have a gun pointed to you.”
It turns out, investigators said, pinning the shooting on Maestas was part of a plan crafted by Martinez’s grandma before police arrived. The criminal complaint charging Martinez stated he had been arguing with Jr.’s Dad all day, that he showed up to the shooting with a .22 caliber rifle, stood behind Maestas, and told him, ‘It’s me Kevin. I got your back’ before firing towards the Sanchezes. The document noted Maestas did not share this with police until more than a month after the murder because Martinez’s grandma – his landlord — asked him not to. Conversations caught on body camera footage reveal her attempt to protect her grandson.
Grandma: I’m sure my Grandson didn’t shoot nobody.
Sergeant: Where does your Grandson stay when he is here?
Grandma: He stays with us sometimes. Sometimes he stays there.
Sergeant: You told me no one stays in there.
Grandma: Well, whenever he comes, it’s not like all the time, but…
Grandma: He told me not to tell you guys he had a gun and he shot back.
Sergeant: Okay who told you that?
Grandma: Jerrid.
Officer: Do you think ‘grandma’ was trying to throw us in a loop to get the blame off of him?
Sergeant: It’s a good possibility.
What’s interesting here is Martinez’s grandma should know where her grandson is at all times because, for the past two years, he’s been under house arrest at her home on a GPS ankle monitor. A judge ordered those conditions of release after allowing Martinez out of jail, pending his trial on more than a dozen felony charges accusing him of kidnapping and repeatedly raping a 14-year-old girl in 2020.
“I would argue that she was a terrible person to be monitoring him because, obviously, look what happened,” said First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies.
Was the grandma vetted? The DA believes her criminal history was probably looked at, but that’s it. She said the family can be a good placement for some but does not believe it was for Martinez. “In this situation where he was sent back to Hernandez, New Mexico, which is a tiny community, and already has a crime problem, for him to be sent into that environment with these kinds of charges pending, it’s ridiculous,” said DA Carmack-Altwies.
Her office filed a pretrial detention motion in the rape case, but the judge ruled they did not prove he was a danger to the community. “These are the worst kinds of charges. If we’re not holding this guy in custody, then who actually gets held in custody?” DA Carmack-Altwies asked. She told KRQE it’s possible Martinez’s lack of criminal record likely also played a role in the judge’s decision. But she added, “I would say that charges like rape, charges like gun crimes, homicide, those should almost be an automatic, that is dangerous.”
The DA did make it clear she does not blame the judge, explaining “It’s the rules that he has to abide by and this negative that we’re supposed to prove. ‘Well, we promise judge that he will commit another crime, so you better hold him in jail.’ Well, we can’t look into the future, but — but we can make an educated guess about what’s going to happen. And that’s what happened.”
Prior to the murder charge, Martinez’s court record shows he repeatedly violated his conditions of release, racking up GPS monitor violations and failing to show up to drug tests. The DA’s Office asked the judge more than once to put him in jail with no success.
Then, in September 2022, Martinez was caught shoplifting. DA Carmack-Altwies said that is more proof GPS ankle bracelets are not the answer for violent offenders. “People can cut those off. People can ignore it. They can go to the Family Dollar and commit a shoplifting. So obviously it doesn’t stop anything,” she explained.
While a new charge could strengthen the office’s request to put Martinez behind bars, DA Carmack-Altwies said petty misdemeanors, like shoplifting, do not go through her office. So, they were unaware. She explained it was on Pretrial Services to alert them and that did not happen.
A month later, the shoplifting charge was dropped when the deputy did not show up to court. That was just eleven days before the Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Office said Martinez shot and killed Elmer Sanchez, Jr.
“The legal system is supposed to protect us. It’s failed,” his fiancée said. “Big time.” She’s now left to wonder what their wedding day would have been like while raising their two young kids alone.
“You had a law-abiding citizen and, you know, never broke the laws and, he was let down, he was let down by the system and so are so many others.” By the justice system, Jr.’s sister said, and by their neighbor. “I think at some point we have to take accountability for our family members who are living an unjust life,” Gutierrez said. “I really wish that the grandma would have some sympathy for the families that were affected. And maybe again, maybe, none of this would have happened.”
Martinez is now behind bars awaiting trial for both cases. But, despite the GPS ankle monitor, it took police three months to find and arrest Martinez for Elmer Sanchez Jr.’s murder. He was taken into custody in May 2023. The month prior, Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s deputies tried to arrest him outside a store in Hernandez, New Mexico but court records show Martinez was able to get away. He faces new charges for that interaction with the Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Office, including assaulting a police officer with a deadly weapon and false imprisonment.
Jerrid Maestas was not let off the hook. Investigators said he agreed to not say Martinez was at the murder scene that night in exchange for Martinez’s grandma not sharing with police that he had a gun. When the murder charge was dropped, the DA’s Office charged him with tampering with evidence and being a felon in possession of a firearm.