Hernandez-Martinez of Cincinnati faced the death penalty after being convicted Thursday of two counts of aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder and participating in a criminal gang. He was a complicitor in the July 13, 2008, gang-motivated killing of Evelvin Osveli-Morales and Marlon Enamordo-Gomez outside the former Casa Tequila on Ohio 4 in Fairfield, according to police.
Instead of a death sentence, Butler County Common Pleas Judge Michael Sage gave him 78 years to life in prison, meaning the 24-year-old Mexico native would not be eligible for parole until he’s 102.
The Spanish-speaking Hernandez-Martinez smiled when an interpreter told him the jury recommended he receive 30 years to life for each homicide.
Defense attorney David Washington asked Sage to run the sentences concurrently. But Sage called the murders “egregious” and ordered the defendant to serve consecutive prison terms.
Sage said Hernandez-Martinez would be eligible for parole after 30 years on each of the murder charges and tacked on 18 additional years for the other charges for a total sentence of 78 years to life.
“Essentially, he received a life without parole sentence,” said Washington, who was disappointed, but relieved his client avoided the death penalty.
Throughout the trial, Hernandez-Martinez maintained he was not in the car when the drive-by shooting happened.
“He was not the shooter,” Washington said of his client.
Butler County Prosecutor Mike Gmoser called the sentencing “a victory for civilized society.” He said it sends a message to violent offenders that they could spend the rest of their lives in prison.
Gmoser said Hector Alvarenga-Retana, the alleged trigger man in the double-murder case, will be returned to Ohio soon from a North Carolina jail to face trial.
Hernandez-Martinez begged the jury to spare his life during testimony Monday morning. He spoke in broken English as he read a prepared statement. He also spoke for about an hour through an interpreter about his difficult life in Mexico before arriving in the United States.
“I am not without feeling, I am a human being” Hernandez-Martinez said, adding he loves his 2-year-old son, Oliver.
“I made a bad choice by joining the MS-13 (gang),” he said. “But that doesn’t mean I am a killer.”
Hernandez-Martinez said he was homeless after being thrown out of a cousin’s house and was influenced by MS-13 gang members who offered him food and a place to stay.
“I took it (the gang) as a joke. I never took it seriously,” he said, noting members later threatened to kill him if he didn’t obey.
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