FOX40

Police arrest teenager in connection to death of a woman and her unborn child

LODI, Calif. (KTXL) — The Lodi Police Department said officers arrested a 16-year-old girl on Monday in connection to a fatal stabbing of a pregnant woman and her unborn child.

Before 11:30 a.m. on Monday, police said the stabbing was being investigated as a double homicide since the woman’s unborn child died.

The police identified the woman as 25-year-old Lodi resident Jessie Martinez, who officers say was approximately four months pregnant.

After midnight on Sunday, officers responded to a call that reported that a female was stabbed or shot at Eagle Place near Century Boulevard.

When officers arrived on the scene, they found Martinez unresponsive and with at least one stab wound.

Officers also found a 22-year-old man, who was reported to be Martinez’s boyfriend and father of the unborn child, to have a non-life threatening laceration on his face.

Police said life-saving measures were performed on Martinez, but she died due to her injuries.

The 22-year-old man was treated at a local hospital for the lacerations to his face and he has been released from the hospital.

Police said the boyfriend is not a suspect in Martinez’s death.

According to police, this incident does not appear to be random and it may have stemmed from a series of altercations that occurred during a party at the victim’s residence that same night. Although police characterize the gathering as a house party, the surviving victim says it was a family dinner— not a gathering of random people.