Testimony begins in 2022, in murder of Albuquerque woman

Oct. 22—The case against Jonathan Martinez is as simple as “murder, a hamburger, some Sprite and a little lighter fluid,” prosecutor David Waymire told jurors Tuesday, the first day of Martinez’s trial for the murder of Yasmine Marquez.

Prosecutors said they will show jurors surveillance footage of Martinez buying food at a McDonald’s and lighter fluid at a Walmart on NM 528 before heading toward U.S. 550, where the body de Marquez, 20, was later found under a pile of dumped roofing materials.

Martinez, 23, is charged in 2nd Judicial District Court with first-degree murder in Marquez’s killing. He is also charged with two counts of tampering with evidence for allegedly driving with her body in the car for several hours before dumping her remains in a remote area of ​​Rio Rancho. The trial is scheduled until Friday before Judge David Murphy.

Marquez’s mother, Clara Jaramillo, said Tuesday that she reported her daughter missing on April 15, 2022, after noticing her vehicle was missing and the victim was not answering her cell phone. The victim had just returned in early April from Ciudad Juárez, where she had been living with Martinez for several months. Marquez returned alone, saying she felt threatened after Martinez put a gun to her head, witnesses said.

The day after Marquez disappeared, deputies found his vehicle partially burned in Corrales.

After receiving the location data of Marquez and Martinez’s cell phones through a search warrant, police were able to find the two men heading to Kirtland Park late on the night of April 14. According to the victim’s best friend, Ketzia Loya, one of the last text messages she received from the victim stated, “I’m going to get killed,” with a skull emoji, alerting Loya that Martinez was returning from Mexico and that Marquez was concerned about her safety.

According to Loya, after returning from Juarez, Marquez told Loya about the abuse she had suffered at the hands of Martinez.

On May 2, 2022, Martinez was arrested and found in possession of the victim’s phone.

Martinez sent Marquez a series of text messages, including: “I’m not good enough for you, so I’m just going to kill you” and “You don’t love me,” according to a search warrant affidavit.

Prosecutors say they relied on Snapchat, Facebook and cellphone messages as well as location data to demonstrate Martinez’s involvement in Marquez’s killing.

The text messages show a history of abuse and intent to kill, with Martinez repeatedly telling Marquez that he would not allow her to leave him and would physically harm her if she did, said prosecutors to the judge Tuesday.

Martinez’s attorney, Stephanie Gulley, told jurors the text messages were speculative and did not have enough context to be used as evidence.

In August, Martinez was acquitted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in an unrelated case.