At six forty-five in the morning, someone lured 20-year-old lesbian Norma Leticia Martinez out of her San Jose, Calif., home before dragging her body two blocks by car and leaving her for dead. Martinez’s neighbor found scraps of Martinez’s clothing and jewelry along Michigan Avenue before discovering her body in front of the local Catholic church. The police took Martinez to the hospital without notifying her family. She died alone at 10am. Martinez had just gotten a new job and a new girlfriend before her death early this morning. Police now say that she also had a fight with her 19-year-old ex, a one Jennifer Bautista, a few hours before her death. They want to talk with Bautista to see if she knows anything about Martinez’s death. And though police have called the death “suspicious,” they’ve stopped short of calling it a homicide and say there’s not enough evidence to call it “a hate crime,” which is where our mind always jumps when “gay” and “murder” show up in a headline. And should we go down that road? California does have statewide hate crime laws that increase penalties for offenders. But for now, yeah, let’s wait to see what Bautista has to say.
UPDATE: Martinez’s ex Bautista was arrested and charged with the murder after initially being fingered as a “person of interest.” After eight hours of questioning by police, she was formally arrested. Martinez’s family suspect a set-up: “One theory is that Leticia was beaten outside her home and then taken two blocks, where she was left outside a church,” reports Edge. “Another possibility is that she was hanging on to a car that dragged her for those two blocks. Family members speculated that Leticia was drawn out of her home by an early morning phone call and then attacked. At one point they thought that Leticia might have been targeted because of her sexuality; sister Nena Estrada told the news channel that the brothers of Jennifer Bautista, Leticia’s on-and-off girlfriend, ‘didn’t like my sister because they said my sister turned their sister gay.'” Moreover, police now say the murder was not a hate crime.
alan brickman
Definately a hate crime….
LILA
SHE WAS A VERY FUNNY AND KIND PERSON.. WE WILL MISS YOU MUCH R.I.P
ericka v.
Every death is a tragedy, as was this girls. Making an insinuation that she was somehow killed because she was a lesbian without a shred of proof, and only on a speculation fueled by a desire for political ends, hoping this is a hate crime is sick, sick, sick.
The article reveals quite a bit, anyone with minimal brain power knows that 80% or more of killings are done by someone the person knows.
If this is a hate crime against a lesbian, there is a VERY good chance it was done by another lesbian.
Then is anyone going to report that fact? Does anyone remember in the mid 90s the dozen or so gay men that were singled out and killed over a period of years on the east coast? All were called hate crimes, and the insinuations flew fast that they were being killed because they were gay.
That turned out to be true. A gay male was killing them.
Marissa
Rest Easy Leti .)’:
wmcarpenter
Maybe I’m missing something. How is this a hate crime?
soakman
It does seem oftly suspicious what with her body being left in front of a church, and the method of death pretty similar to a lynching.
Awful, terrible people out there.
pantherq
The level of violence involved makes me think that it is a hate crime. Overkill is common in hate crimes not crimes of passion.
JINA MENEAR
MAY YOUR LOVED ONE RIP.IM SO SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS. I GREW UP WITH THIS GIRLS MOM AND MANY CUZNS. THE MARTINEZS WILL ALWAYS BE FRIENDS OF MINE.YOU GUYS HANG IN THERE.THIS IS TERRIBLE NEWS.RHODA IM SO SORRY .FROM AN OLD ALVISO HOMIE JINA MENEAR
ericka v.
I posted my thoughts on this article a couple days ago and I was dead on correct. Another lesbian had done the killing.
Why is this NOT a hate crime then? This girl was probably killed BECAUSE of her lesbian relationship. HOW is that NOT a hate crime? Just because another so called lesbian (arrested for it) did it?
It does not matter if a lesbian did it, it is still a hate crime under the definition of a hate crime law. The victim was a lesbian and murdered because of her sexuality. Those are the elements of the law.
Read the law.
Another gay on gay hate crime.
Ashley
Jennifer Bautista is now being charged with Vehicular Manslaughter instead of murder. I don’t think she set out to kill Leti that night, but I still think that it’s a murder and here’s why:
Yes, Leti did a very stupid thing by jumping onto the car. But the skid marks show me that Jennifer sped up and stopped, throwing Leti from the car. At this point, she should have called the authorities and request help. At the very least, she could have used reverse and drove AROUND Leti. Instead, she drove over her. Now after this, she once again had the chance to call for help. This time, she kept going…with Leti attached to the car. a body is a heavy thing to drag, there’s no way she wouldn’t notice that she was still on her car as she dragged her body 2 blocks. Again, she didn’t call for help. She made the conscious decision to not call for help, and left Leti to sit in the cold winter street for who knows how long until someone found her. I think that had she called for help immediately, even after being dragged 2 blocks, Leti would still be with us.
The difference between murder and manslaughter is intent to kill and malice. If making the clear choice to leave someone to die in the street after running them over yourself instead of seeking medical attention isn’t malicious or an intent for grievous bodily harm, I don’t know what is.
Because of Jennifer, the world is missing out on one of the brightest smiles I’ve ever seen. Because of Jennifer, Leti’s family won’t get to watch her grow into a successful young woman. Because of Jennifer…I lost a good friend. Proper justice needs to be served.