The Gwinnett mother accused of stabbing and killing her husband and four of her children will not undergo a psychological evaluation at this stage in her case, her attorney said Tuesday.
The lawyer, Robert Greenwald, withdrew his original request that Isabel Martinez, 33, be evaluated after her bizarre first appearance in court on Friday, July 7, the day after the brutal stabbings at Martinez's home in Loganville.
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The appearance raised eyebrows when Martinez smiled at television cameras, flashed two thumbs up and put her hands together as if praying throughout the proceedings.
But Thursday, the same day as the funeral for the five victims, Greenwald filed a motion retracting the evaluation request for now, the clerk's office at the Gwinnett County Magistrate Court confirmed.
“That doesn’t mean that it’s gone for good. it just means that at this stage in the proceedings I withdrew it,” he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I’m sure it will definitely come back in the future.”
Martinez is accused of stabbing and killing her husband, 33-year-old Martin Romero, and four of her children, 2-year-old Axel, 4-year-old Dillan and 7-year-old Dacota Romero and 10-year-old Isabela Martinez, early on July 6.
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
She was charged with five counts of malice murder, five counts of murder and six charges of aggravated assault.
Greenwald waived Ramirez's right to a preliminary hearing, which was scheduled for Thursday. This means the charges and warrants will be transferred to Gwinnett Superior Court without being heard first in magistrate court.
“I did not see a benefit to my client,” Greenwald said of the preliminary hearing.
Ramirez said at her initial appearance that she did not want an attorney, but the judge appointed her one anyway.
A fifth sibling, 9-year-old Diana Romero, was stabbed and injured in the attack but is expected to survive. She is “steadily improving” at a hospital in Atlanta and faces a “long road to recovery both physically and mentally,” the family said in a statement Thursday.
Credit: HANDOUT
Credit: HANDOUT
Watch video of the woman’s first appearance in court:
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