Family and friends remember Lodi stabbing victim Jessie Martinez
A family and community are grieving a senseless act of violence, and a young pregnant mother's death.
A 16-year-old girl is under arrest, facing a double murder charge.
Photos show Jessie Martinez, a Lodi mother, with a child on the way. Her long-time friend Sinai Vasquez took the selfie of the pair.
Vasquez is in shock, over her friend's fate.
"She was a good friend," Vasquez said. "Funny, adorable, and beautiful."
Lodi Police say Martinez was inside her home Saturday night at a gathering that included the father of her expected child, when a 16-year-old girl attacked Martinez with a knife. Martinez died from her stab wounds, along with her unborn child. Lodi police say the attack was not random and came after a series of altercations between people at the gathering.
"I just can't even imagine honestly not just losing one person but two, it's just overall... it's just sad," neighbor Savannah Avalos said.
Avalos was shocked to hear about the deadly attack, and about the young age of the suspect.
"Well it's sickening to find out her age," Avalos said. "I mean, it's sickening regardless what happened but, 16 is like, so…."
In California, prosecutors can seek to try juveniles ages 14 to 17 as adults. A fitness hearing determines the degree of criminal sophistication exhibited by the minor, whether the minor can be rehabilitated, and the minor's previous delinquent history.
"I'm just shocked about like, why would it be her," Vasquez said.
A heinous act against an expectant mother. The gift of life stolen in a senseless stabbing.
Late Monday, Jessie Martinez's sister sent a message to CBS13's Steve Large reading:
"My sister was a beautiful woman and amazing mother and a good sister she was always there for her family whenever we needed her."
