Lawrenceville, Ga. – A woman who was accused of killing four of her little children, and her husband smiled and flashed a double room on news cameras in Metro Atlanta during her first course of the court on Friday before she told a judge that she did not want a lawyer.
In addition, an immigration officer said that the woman, who comes from Mexico, said illegally entered the United States.
The 33 -year -old Isabel Martinez appeared a day after the police stabbed the five and had seriously injured another child in their house outside of Atlanta. The injured child, a 9-year-old girl, survived, stayed with the police, who was described as serious, to the hospital.
Before the hearing began, Martinez sat with other inmates and beat Poznan for cameras – smiled, gave up her thumb, put her hands in a prayer position and spread her arms wide.
When Thorpe listed the indictment against her – five cases of malice, five murder cases and six cases of serious assault – Martinez smiled, shook his head “no” and wagged his finger over him. The judge advised her not to perform for the cameras.
“Ma'am, I will point out to cut the display for the cameras,” he said. “It's really not a good idea, probably not to your advantage.”
When Thorpe informed her about her right to a lawyer, she said through a Spanish -speaking interpreter that she doesn't want anyone. She later added that her lawyer will always be the people we are fighting for, and her belief.
“They are the hope of the world, each of them,” she said in Spanish and seemed to address the news cameras. “It doesn't matter what color you have because God loves us all.”
Thorpe advised Martinez to hire or allow a lawyer to be appointed for her.
In the meantime, the spokesman for the US immigration and customs authority, Bryan Cox, said in an email on Friday that Martinez, which he identified as Maria Isabel Garduno-Martinez, dates from Mexico and illegally entered the country. This is her first encounter with immigration authorities, and it is not clear how long it was in the USA, said Cox.
Isabel Martinez points to news cameras during her first course of the court on July 7, 2017 in Lawreceville, Georgia.John Bazemore / AP
Local officials called the murders “terrible”.
“What prompted a person to take the life of such innocent children and their spouse is something that we may never understand,” said the Gwinnett County police in an explanation. “This is a terrible crime not only for the victims, but also for the extended family, the neighborhood and the community.”
Psychologists and others who study mothers who are accused of killing their children say that it is not as unusual as people could believe. However, reporting on the media often focuses on dramatic cases, such as Andrea Yates, who were not found guilty due to the madness for the drowning of their five children in their suburb in Houston in Houston in 2001.
Other cases receive less attention than if a woman kills a newborn or the death of children, said Cheryl Meyer, co-author of two books about mothers who killed children in the nineties due to around 1,000 cases.
This corresponds approximately to a death every three days. If at all, the total amount based on media reports at this time underestimates the reality, said Meyer, a psychology professor at Wright State University in Ohio.
In cases where mothers deliberately kill, Meyer said that there is often another influence such as mental health problems, postpartum depression or the loss of a close relative.
“We like to classify these women as Parias that they are not as we are at all,” said Meyer. “I thought that wasn't the case.”
Flowers and stuffed toys that were left on the doorstep of a house, in which four children and their father were stabbed on July 7, 2017 in Loganville, Georgia.John Bazemore / AP
Some neighbors in the small, mostly Hispanic neighborhood in Loganville, about 48 kilometers east of Atlanta, said they had no idea that something was wrong in the house until the police watched the scene on Thursday morning. The neighbors said that the Spanish -speaking family had recently moved to the community, and their children seemed happy to play with other children in the neighborhood.
Victoria Nievs said Martinez recently suffered her father's death.
Gwinnett County Police Cpl. Michele Pihera confirmed that the 911 call came from a woman who was in the house on Thursday at 4:47 a.m. to report a stitch. The police believe that Martinez made this call.
Pihera said the caller spoke Spanish, which initially made it difficult for the 911 operators to communicate with her. The district's office said that Martinez was in the US immigration and customs authority.
The hospital girl, Diana Romero, was in a serious but stable condition on Thursday evening, the police said.
The four children killed were identified as Isabela Martinez, 10; Dacaca Romero, 7; Dillan Romero, 4; And Axel Romero, 2. Her murdered father was Martin Romero, 33, said Pihera. The police said Romero and Isabel Martinez were married.
Early signs are that a knife was used to attack the five, although a medical examiner will make the final decision on the cause of death, she said.
