One by one, family, friends and community members streamed into a funeral home here Wednesday to pay their respects to a Gwinnett County family ripped apart by tragedy after a mother allegedly stabbed and killed her husband and four of their children.
The slayings last week shook up the quiet, close-knit Loganville neighborhood, which residents said is supportive and family-based.
Police believe Isabel Martinez, 33, killed her husband, Martin Romero, and their four children in the early morning hours last Thursday.
Yessica Enciso works with a relative of Romero, and though she did not know the family personally, she came to offer support.
“As a community I feel like we should come and support because this is a tragedy that no one expected,” she said. “Everybody feels it because we don’t expect the mother to take away their own child’s life.”
Enciso came to the visitation on Wednesday with several of her coworkers. They carried vases with flowers, some of which had pink teddy bears tied around them.
“Everybody at work talks about it,” she said, “and we just can’t understand how that happened … We just couldn’t believe it.”
The visitation was held to mourn the loss of Romero and the children: 1-year-old Axel, 4-year-old Dillan, 7-year-old Dacota and 10-year-old Isabela Martinez.
A fifth child, Diana Romero, 9 years old, was also stabbed but is expected to survive.
More than 100 people attended the visitation over the course of several hours. Guests ranged in age, many bringing flowers. At one point, three men dressed in Mariachi-style clothes and carrying guitars entered the home.
The funeral mass for all five victims is scheduled for Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at St. Lawrence Catholic Church in Lawrenceville.
The family lived with several other Latino families in a mobile home park, comprising of just 25 homes on one street in Loganville.
Credit: Hyosub Shin
Credit: Hyosub Shin
Lourdes Lagares, another community member, said in Spanish that, as a mother, she feels the pain the family is going through. She could never imagine losing her children, she said.
A woman who identified herself as a teacher at the school the kids attended simply said, “They were amazing.”
A GoFundMe page started by family members last week raised more than $35,000 to cover funeral costs and support Diana’s recovery.
The mother, Isabel Martinez, appeared in court Friday and was charged with five counts of malice murder, five counts of murder and six counts of aggravated assault. While she said she did not want an attorney, she was still appointed one.
Credit: Hyosub Shin
Credit: Hyosub Shin
Her lawyer, Robert Greenwald, said he plans to ask for Martinez to undergo a mental health evaluation. Police have not released a suspected motive in the deaths.
Enciso said it is important to not judge Martinez too harshly at this point, since “we don’t know what was going through her head that could have caused her to do that.”
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