A man who spent nearly 30 years behind bars for shaking his girlfriend’s baby to death has been released after new evidence suggested the infant may have died of pneumonia.
Steven Martinez admitted to shaking 4-month-old Heather Maris and slamming her head into her bed at his Denver home in 1998, and was sentenced to life in prison without parole two years later for first-degree murder.
However, his lawyers successfully argued that the fatal injuries likely came from complications of pneumonia, with bleeding and swelling of the brain, mistaking so-called “shaken baby syndrome.”
Martinez’s conviction was overturned Tuesday after prosecutors admitted they could no longer prove he killed baby Heather — whose mother, Kim Estrada, burst into tears in the courtroom because she still insisted her ex-husband was guilty.
Martinez — who had his leg amputated while in prison — was greeted by cheering supporters as he left the Denver Department of Corrections Reception and Diagnostic Center in a wheelchair. His wife, whom he married behind bars, also met him.
“I’m so happy and so grateful that I’m out of prison after 27 years, innocent,” Martinez said. According to CBS News.
“But now I’m not getting out of anything at all. But God bless you guys, have a good day.”
Martinez had called 911 to his Denver home in 1998, telling emergency workers that Heather was suffocating.
Responders found the child was suffering from a traumatic brain injury, with blood-stained sheets thrown into the laundry, according to court documents. Obtained by 9 News.
Martinez admitted to shaking the crying girl and hitting her head on the crib, but insisted he did not intend to hurt her.
Instead, they now assert that the deaths’ injuries were due to pneumonia. “Everything you see, all those injuries, stems from that,” Jane Siegel, one of his attorneys, said in court.
However, the baby’s mother, Kim Estrada, and dad, Chris Mares, still blame Martinez for their child’s death, and are angry with him because he showed no remorse.
“My life has stopped for 27 years,” the grieving mother said outside the courtroom.
Andre Marais, Hitaher’s uncle, said the decision was “illogical.”
“How does pneumonia cause a baby to have a broken head? How does Steven admit that he hit Heather’s head in bed, and how does pneumonia make all that stuff go away?” he asked.
District Court Judge Andrew Locsin apologized to the parents as he rejected the conviction and ordered Martinez released from prison.
“The loss you and your family have suffered is incomprehensible. Especially for such a young child. I understand that today is a difficult day,” the judge told them, according to CBS News.
“I want you to know that this is not an easy decision. And I feel for you and your family.”
The case was brought to Denver District Attorney John Walsh’s office through the Korey Wise Innocence Project, which provides free investigative and legal services to people wrongly convicted of crimes in Colorado.
“The organization provided my office with several credible medical experts who challenged the initial determination that Heather’s death was caused by physical assault,” Walsh said. He said in a statement.
He said the state was “now unable to meet the burden of moral and legal proof beyond a reasonable doubt, and we were forced to dismiss the case,” but stressed that “there was no misconduct” on the part of those who worked on the initial investigation.
“This is just one example that the criminal justice system is willing and able to reevaluate a case when necessary,” Walsh wrote.
Martinez’s attorney, Siegel — associate director of the Innocence Project — called the case “a tragedy on every front.”
“He lost more than 27 years of his life in prison for a crime he did not commit,” Siegel said.
“This was a tragedy; it was not a crime. Steven Martinez did not cause the child’s death. Our thoughts are with the child’s family. We cannot imagine what they are going through, and I know today was a new trauma for them, so they are in our thoughts.”
With mail wires