Martinez's mother releases statement

Martinez's mother releases statement

July 19, 2001

By Aspen C. Emmett
Journal Staff Writer

For the first time since her son’s brutal murder more than a month ago, Fred Martinez Jr.’s mother is speaking out about who her son was and how she feels about the way he was treated in life and now in death.

"I feel it is time to talk about the death of my son," said Pauline Mitchell in a press release Wednesday.

"I am his mother and now I want to make sure the truth is told about Fred by people who loved him. With more and more talk about his death, the police looking into his murder, and the details of my son’s personal life in the media, it is time to speak the truth about Fred’s life."

Martinez, 16, who was openly gay or transgendered, died June 16 from blunt trauma to the head. The 18-year-old man accused of the crime, Shaun Murphy of Farmington, reportedly had bragged to friends that he had "beat up a fag."

Mitchell said that such hate and violence were all too common in her son’s life, but he dealt with the criticism with grace.

"The most important thing I can say is that I loved Fred. I loved my son exactly for who he was — for his courage in being honest and gentle and friendly. It is sad that he had to face pain in his daily life and in school."

Mitchell said she is speaking out now because she is angry.

"I am angry that other people are lying about who my son was, including Shaun Murphy and his family. I want to make sure that Fred has people speaking the truth about his life."

Mitchell said she is also upset that the police have not been in better contact with her regarding the status of the murder investigation.

"I don’t want to read about new things in the newspaper," she said in the release.

Montezuma County Sheriff’s Detective Lt. Kalvin Boggs said Wednesday he and the sheriff regret Mitchell is feeling slighted and would be contacting her immediately to remedy the problem.

"It is our intent to keep her informed of every aspect and stage of the investigation," Boggs said. "She has every right to know everything that’s going on in this case. We know that and we definitely try to be cognizant of it."

Also a point of contention for Mitchell are statements by law-enforcement officers that she had not reported her son missing until a week following his disappearance on June 16. Law officers said it was not uncommon for the boy to leave home for days and that was why the mother had not reported him missing earlier.

"I reported that Fred was missing on June 18," Mitchell stated. "Two days later I called the police again, and on June 23 I read about a body being found near our home. I phoned the police again, but they told me the body had not been identified."

Boggs said, though, that the sheriff’s department was only aware of one missing-persons report by Mitchell on June 23.

"To us it’s not a concern (when she made the report), we’re just glad that the report was made so we could get him identified," Boggs said.

"She made that one report and the city officers gave that to us."

Mitchell said that since June 25, when the police told her that her son had been murdered, she wondered if it was because of who he was and how he expressed himself.

"Violence was a common part of his life, and as I learn more, I know that this was a crime based on anger and hate," she wrote in the release.

"His friends, other students at school, and family friends have told me things that make me know that Shaun Murphy picked Fred out to chase and beat him."

One of the places that Martinez faced a lot of problems and criticism was in school, Mitchell said.

Because of harassment, he left Montezuma-Cortez High School during his freshman year and began taking night classes through the Adult Education Center, where he also reportedly had problems.

"I blame the people in charge at the school for not making sure he was safe. I am angry that they thought Fred was the problem," Mitchell said.

"Fred tried very hard to fit in. People in charge shouldn’t treat children differently just because they aren’t like them. I hope that they will listen to me and other people who care about what happened to Fred."

Montezuma-Cortez School District Re-1 Superintendent Bill Thompson said he felt that the school had made several attempts to serve Martinez and offered him a number of avenues for help.

"I know that he received services and concern from several organizations at the school," Thompson said.

"I know that Laurie Wood at the nurse’s office was involved; I know that counselors in the Student Assistance Program were involved with Fred; and I know that the principal and assistant principal sat down with Fred at different times and talked about things that were going on and tried to work with him on the issues."

Mitchell wanted to let people know that her son was a member of the Native American Church, where he did receive support.

"A lot of Native American Church members prayed for Fred and his family. What I wanted for my son was for him to be accepted and loved, just like I accepted and loved him.

"I am grateful to Fred’s friends for accepting him the way he was and remembering him for who he was. Fred's family loved and cared deeply for all of who he was."

Mitchell said she and her family firmly believe that Martinez’s murder was a hate crime.

"Because he was different his life was taken from him, and we will never know the person Fred would have become. I hope that the police and the District Attorney will talk about this and bring justice for the death of my son."