BOSTON (WHDH) - About a thousand miles from Massachusetts, in the suburbs of Chicago, the family of Daniel Martinez is in mourning.
The former US marine was fatally stabbed in Boston over the weekend as he was visiting the city for Saint Patrick’s Day celebrations.
His cousin Libby Herrera said he was one of five children and had a twin brother with whom he was very close. She added that the 23-year-old was a strong, courageous, and kind man, whose absence is already being felt.
“He was just an adventurous soul,” she said. “If you saw Daniel smile, it was a warm and inviting smile.”
Alvaro Larrama, 38, who works as a bouncer at the Sons of Boston near Faneuil Hall, was arraigned in Boston Municipal Court Monday in connection with Martinez’s death. He was ordered held without bail.
Officers responding to reports of a stabbing outside Union Street establishment just before 7 p.m. Saturday found Martinez bleeding from a single stab wound to his chest, District Attorney Kevin Hayden said. He was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead just before 7:30 p.m.
Assistant District Attorney Caitlin Grasso said video surveillance from numerous establishments shows Martinez and Larrama engaging in a brief conversation while Martinez and a friend were waiting in line outside Sons of Boston. Boston police officers told authorities that they later learned Larrama had denied Martinez and his friend entrance.
“It appears that words may have been exchanged. The victim and his friend step out of line. At one point in time, the defendant makes a chest move, a gesture, moving toward the victim and his friend,” the prosecutor told the court.
According to the DA’s release, Martinez and his friend walked away and were subsequently pursued by Larrama. Grasso said the video shows him raising his left hand as if to defend himself, then striking Larrama’s head with an aluminum beer bottle.
“The two then begin a tussle, and the defendant quickly strikes the victim in the chest with that object,” the prosecutor said.
The video then shows Larrama striking the victim in the chest, Grasso said. Larrama then entered Sons of Boston, where he is allegedly seen washing his hands, discarding his sweatshirt and turning his shirt inside out before leaving through a back exit.
Martinez’s cousin said he had recently been discharged from the Marines after four years of service. She said he had a bright future ahead of him that was cut short on Saturday.
“What happened is the biggest tragedy in our family. His absence is really being felt right now,” Herrera said.
She said Martinez’s family has a message for the man accused of killing their loved one.
“I would pray that you would come to know Christ because that’s what Daniel would have wanted,” she said through tears. “Daniel would have wanted this person to be saved. I pray whatever happens to him God handles the justice.”
Larrama is due back in court on April 28 for a probable cause hearing.
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