A group of three young men gunned down an 18-year-old Hispanic man in daylight on a residential street just a block from City Hall and the Gilroy Police Department this afternoon, cutting short a life he was about to turn toward the straight and narrow, family members said.
About 1:20 p.m., residents near the intersection of Church and Sixth streets heard two shots, and then a rapid fire of more shots. When they came outside, Larry Martinez - whose family said he had only been in Gilroy for one week after getting out of jail - lay in the road near the sidewalk outside 165 Church St.
"It was like watching my own child die," the victim's cousin told her friends and family, recounting the moments after she heard shots ring out a few blocks away and then ran over to see Martinez struggling to breathe on the ground. He looked her in the eyes and died shortly thereafter, she said. It was unclear if an ambulance was en route at the time or not.
After police arrived and covered the body with a yellow tarp - leaving only a piece of red clothing peeking out - the victim's grandmother, Joann Duran, paced around, smoking cigarettes with a look of disbelief. The police chaplain comforted the woman between cries and moans as dozens of bystanders stared at the body, mouths agape.
"He was going to straighten his life out," Duran said. "He had respect for everybody, and that's all that he wanted. He wanted the respect back in return.
"
Martinez's mother, Monica Fernandez, showed up about two hours after the incident, having driven 66 miles from Dos Palos.
"I just want to say that I love my son, Junior," she said. "I don't know what I'll do. I crave to hold him one more time and can't because someone took my son from me. He was an 18-year-old boy who was going to start a new job this week. He had everything going for him. He had brothers and sisters who loved him and a mother and step-father who had hopes of him joining their family.
"
Fernandez added that her son planned to start a construction job for the family business Wednesday.
All that was cut short, though, when the three suspects opened fire on Martinez.
Family members said he was walking along Sixth Street with two friends who ran away when the suspects, who were also on foot, began shooting. Police said two of the three Hispanic male suspects were wearing white shirts while the other wore a dark-colored shirt. They were last seen on foot near the intersection of Fourth and Church streets, according to Sgt. John Sheedy.
About a dozen police officers combed the area for evidence. They said they did not know if the killing was gang-related.
"It's still too early," Sgt. Sheedy said. "We're still in the very early stages of the investigation.
"
Sgt. Jim Gillio said it was especially surprising that the killing would take place in the middle of the day.
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