Richmond slaying victim a samaritan to the end
- Jim Herron Zamora, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
(08-24) 14:24 PDT Richmond (SF Chronicle) -- Terence Lionel Martin died as he lived -- helping people in need, his sister said.
Richmond police said Martin, a furniture mover for the West Contra Costa Unified School District, was killed Tuesday when he witnessed a pregnant teenager being beaten by her boyfriend and tried to intervene.
"He really had a good heart, and that's how he lost his life," said Martin's older sister, Sharon Johnson. "He lived to help other people, to give someone a hand or listen to their problems. That's what made him happy. He just loved life. Everyone's life he touched was greatly enhanced."
Martin, 40, had just finished moving some furniture at the Lavonya DeJean Middle School and was driving a school district truck about 2:45 p.m. when he spotted the 17-year-old boy beating his teenage girlfriend on 35th Street near Bissell Avenue.
Martin pulled over, told the young man to stop and offered a hand to the woman. Police said the young man pulled out a gun and shot Martin in the back. He was airlifted to John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek and later was pronounced dead.
Officers recovered a handgun nearby and about 4 p.m. arrested the 17-year-old suspect a few blocks away. It is not yet clear if the suspect will be tried as an adult.
Police said the pregnant teen, who is not being identified, appears to be OK.
"I'm not surprised that my brother pulled over and stopped for that pregnant girl," Johnson said. "He has a daughter about that age, and he is just the type of person who wants to protect everyone."
Johnson, 44, said the muscular, athletic Martin was four years younger but played the role of the protective sibling when they were growing up in Richmond's south side.
"He was younger than me in years but he was big brother at heart," Johnson said. "He liked to look out for people. He hated to see people hurt. But he was always good at avoiding trouble; you know he just wanted to break it up and move on."
Martin was a lifelong Richmond resident who began working for the school district just a few months after he graduated from Kennedy High School in 1983, Johnson said. He served in a variety of custodial and maintenance positions there before becoming a furniture mover.
On Wednesday, school district officials and union leaders mourned the death of the well-liked man, which happened on the first day of the school year.
"His death was especially heartbreaking because he died as result of helping someone in distress," said interim Superintendent Cynthia LeBlanc. "We have lost not just a wonderful employee, but a valued member of the community as well."
Martin is the third person to die in a shooting in Richmond since Sunday and the fourth since Thursday. The victims in the Sunday and Monday shootings were both 19 years old.
On Sunday, police found Allen Joseph Lewis of Pinole dead in a car on the 1000 block of Campbell Street. According to police, he was killed by gunfire. The next day, Jacque Junetino Smith of Vallejo was gunned down in broad daylight in front of 1230 Maine Ave., police said.
Richmond has seen 23 homicides so far this year, compared to 19 at the same time last year. But after late June when the city asked other public agencies, including the California High Patrol and Contra Costa Sheriff's Department, to help Richmond police at night, there were no slayings until last week.
In June, the Richmond City Council rejected a proposal by two council members to declare a state of emergency in the city, saying it was unclear how such a move might help fight crime. Some residents and merchants feared that such a declaration would hurt local business and dampen real estate prices.
E-mail Jim Zamora at
jzamora@sfchronicle.com.
URL:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/08/24/BAsamaritan24.DTL
