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Nob Hill Court crime scene, Modesto CA
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31 year old Martin Martinez faces charges of child abuse and murder in the 2014 death of his girlfriend's 2 year old son, Christopher Ridley. Christopher's mother, Dr. Amanda Crews dated Martinez and subsequently had a daughter with him. Christopher Ridley died after suffering a traumatic head injury while in the care of Martinez. The puzzling thing about this mysterious case is that Amanda Crews was reportedly supporting Martinez's claim that Christopher's injury was accidental. She even helped him retain an attorney for this matter. Everything changed in July of 2015 when Amanda Crews and four other family members were found murdered in her Nob Hill Court home in Modesto, CA. Martin Martinez was arrested and charged with 5 counts of first degree murder.
Among the murder victims was Martinez's own mother, his 6 month old daughter Rachel, Amanda's 6 year old daughter Elizabeth and a 5 year old girl reported to be his niece. After Christopher's death, Child Protective Services sought to keep Martinez away from Crews' remaining children. Martinez was living in an apartment just miles away from Crews in July of 2015 when the 5 murders were committed. Martinez was apprehended in San Jose when he exited a movie theatre with his father. He is being held without bail in Stanislaus County.
Information on both cases has been relatively scarce but it has been reported that at the time of his arrest, Martinez had a bloody $2 bill in his wallet that was believed to be Amanda Crews'. Crews' parents had a tradition in which they gave their children and grandchildren 2 dollar bills, and the blood on the bill was in fact found to be Amanda's. It would be difficult to explain how he ended up with the bloody currency on the same day the five victims were discovered. During a preliminary hearing Amanda Crews mother and stepfather, Paulette and Ronald Beidleman explained their tradition of giving $2 bills to their children and grandchildren.
There was reportedly domestic violence in the relationship between Crews and Martinez. Amanda Crews' twin sister Kimberley has described Crews' and Martinez's relationship as volatile and she reportedly witnessed some domestic violence that was never reported by Amanda. She described an instance when Amanda was pregnant with his child in which he shoved Amanda into a bathroom door and has his hands around her neck. He later downplayed the incident by saying he was upset over a death in his family, but this glimpse of violence seems to say a lot to Amanda Crews family members.
Timothy Ridley was married to Amanda and was the father of Christopher and Elizabeth Ridley. Both of his children have now been killed by Martin Martinez and he is understandedly devastated and angry. During his ex-wife's relationship with Martin Martinez, he was very concerned when his children came home with injuries after staying with their mother and Martinez. A daycare employee has also stated that Christopher showed up with various injuries including a black eye and a split lip - Amanda Crews stated the black eye was a result of a fall in the bathtub at his father's home. Timothy Ridley disputed any injuries occurred at his home, rather the injuries began when his ex wife started dating Martin Martinez.
A daycare employee also stated that Christopher Ridley would become very upset when Martin Martinez would pick him up. It clearly appeared he was afraid of him and didn't want to leave with him. If this is all accurate, that's heartbreaking. I'm wondering if Amanda Crews truly believed these injuries her son had were accidental or was she trying to protect Martin Martinez? Is it possible she believed Martinez for some period of time but was beginning to have a change of heart that led to her murder? There are so many unanswered questions in these two stories that will have to wait until the trial begins. How did an intelligent woman like Amanda Crews end up a victim of what appears to be domestic violence? Usually a mother's instinct is to protect the children at all costs. She defended Martin and appeared to believe he did not purposely cause the injuries that killed her son and perhaps her inability to see his violent side was a fatal mistake.
Regardless of what Dr. Crews may have believed, none of these 6 victims deserved to be murdered. What could have happened to have set this awful chain of events into motion? Why was Martin in Amanda's house when there was a protective order to stay away? Why was Martinez's mother and niece there that day, and how did one man manage to subdue and kill 5 people in that house? Granted, 3 of the victims were 6 years and younger - but two women could've put up a fight. Martinez faces charges of 5 counts of first degree murder first. He faces a second trial for the death of Christopher Ridley.
