A Jefferson County jury has convicted a man of second-degree murder in of his girlfriend at a Lakewood motel.
Leonard Martinez, 22, was found guilty of fatally stabbing 20-year-old Kendra Chavez on Feb. 25, 2015, at the Curve Motel on West Mississippi Avenue. The verdict was handed down June 10 after four days of trial, prosecutors say.
Chavez called her mother 30 minutes before the attack to say she was being threatened by Martinez, according to an arrest affidavit.
Witnesses described a grisly scene to investigators, in which Chavez was pleading for help as she was bleeding from a stab wound to her neck, the affidavit said.
Police say before Martinez fled the scene, he asked motel residents to help save Chavez. One man who came to aid Chavez said she was unable to speak because of the amount of blood in her throat.
“The jury heard that Martinez had a history of domestic violence against Kendra,” the 1st Judicial District Attorney’s Office said in a Thursday news release. “Just two months prior, he had held Kendra captive at her apartment and assaulted her.”
Prosecutors say Chavez’s parents got her an apartment at the Curve Motel in order to help get her away from Martinez.
“This is such a tragedy and, unfortunately, a classic example of the cycle of abuse we see in domestic violence,” District Attorney Pete Weir said in a statement. “For the abuser it is always about power and control. And so often the victims feel trapped.”
Martinez is scheduled to be sentenced on July 14 and faces between 16 and 48 years in prison.
