A 24-year-old Lorain man was indicted by a Lorain County grand jury on murder charges in connection with the April 30 shooting death of Gerardo Massari.
Joshua Martinez allegedly shot and killed Massari, 37, in an alley in the 1200 block of Oberlin Avenue at around 10 p.m. after what police said was a family argument.
Police responded to the scene and transferred Massari to Mercy Health, where he died from his injuries.
The grand jury indicted Martinez on three counts of murder (unclassified felony) with three-year firearm specifications, two counts of felonious assault with three-year firearm specifications, tampering with evidence with a one-year firearm specification, using weapons while intoxicated, two counts of aggravated menacing, and criminal trespass.
Kenneth Lieux, Martinez’s attorney, said his client is not guilty.
“It’s self-defense, 100 percent,” Lieux said of Martinez’s alleged actions on that April night.
Lieux explained the murder-unclassified felony charge.
“That means unclassified felony. It’s not a felony 1, it’s one step above,” he said. “It essentially carries a possibility of a life sentence, 15-to-life, or 20-to-life or 25-to-life.”
Lieux also broke down legal reasoning for the prosecutor charging his client with three counts of murder in a case when one person was killed.
That is to cover the “different subsections” of the statute.
“There could be a murder A, specific intent with prior calculation and design, murder B, which is purposeful without prior calculation or design, or a felony murder, which would be like a felonious assault was the cause of death,” Lieux said. “They usually charge it three ways.”
In the legal world, defense attorneys sometimes refer to it as “overcharging” while prosecutors describe it as “comprehensive charging,” Lieux said.
Martinez fled the scene.
He turned himself in to Lorain police on May 2 after a warrant was issued for his arrest and the United States Marshal Service’s Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force offered money for tips leading to his arrest.
Martinez lived in a housing project located near 21st Street and Leavitt Road, at one time, police said.
According to court records, his most recent address was 717 E. 35th St. in Lorain.
Martinez was arraigned May 3 in Lorain Municipal Court.
He bond was set at $1 million.
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