A woman who was brutally gunned down by her teenage son and his father had already expressed concern over their 'threatening' behaviour towards her - and was killed after attempting to gain full custody of the teen's brother
A father and son are accused of murdering the teen's mother after she attempted to gain full custody of his brother.
Charles Martinez, 43, and his son, Hevon Martinez, 17, from Colorado, were charged with first-degree murder this week after gunning down Pagosa Springs resident Chrystal Snow, 38.
Charles had pleaded with Chrystal not to go through with the custody filing before driving over to her house in the middle of the night on July 2 and shooting her Colorado Bureau of Investigation reports.
Charles and [Hevon Martinez] were both aware that Chrystal Snow was preparing to file paperwork at court the following day, related to her petition for full custody of [Hevon Martinez's brother]," says the duo's arrest affidavit, which was obtained by Law&Crime on Thursday. "Charles and [Hevon Martinez] both made one last attempt to convince Chrystal not to go to court and file for full custody in communications both had with Chrystal on the evening of 07/01/24."
However this wasn't the first time the pair had made threats to Chrysal, as witnesses claimed Charles Martinez and his son had made verbal threats to kill Snow in the past, the affidavit says. Multiple witnesses informed CBI agents during its investigation about "the details of the conversations" that Snow allegedly had with the pair that July night "hours before the homicide," according to the affidavit.
It was around 2:20 a.m. that night, neighbors reported hearing multiple gunshots coming from Snow's residence. According to the affidavit, Charles Martinez was living with his mother at the time, and Hevon Martinez was staying with his aunt. It's believed that the father and son took Charles's mother's white Ford Explorer to Chrystal's home and began opening fire on the home as they entered. Surveillance footage obtained by CBI investigators allegedly shows Charles Martinez and his son traveling on various local roads to and from the scene of the murder in the Ford Explorer.
"It appeared that one gunshot was fired from the outside of the residence, through the front living room window. The victim appeared to have fled to the bathroom of the master bedroom, where she was confronted … and shot multiple times," the affidavit said.
Chrystal managed to call the police after being shot, but first responders found her dead at the scene, and it's believed it was a .40 caliber pistol was used for the shooting - but it's unclear who fired the rounds. Based on the initial observations, it's reported Chrystal suffered gunshot wounds to her upper right arm, a gunshot wound to her upper right chest, and a gunshot wound to her right leg. The affidavit added that there was one spent cartridge casing "found on the floor near the victim".
Officials say Chrystal had been corresponding with a domestic violence victim advocate, who laid out allegations of domestic abuse and threats by Charles Martinez and the teenage son stemming as far back as October 2023. The mounting evidence continues against Charles and Hevon Martinez according to officials.
A protection order was filed by Snow after Hevon Martinez "put his hands on her throat" and "threatened to kill her," as reported by Law and Crime. In her petition to obtain the order, Snow had claimed that the teen was "physically assaulting her by hitting her" and that the abuse began in February 2023.
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While it was reported that Charles Martinez had been allegedly threatening to murder Snow in her sleep, according to the victim's advocate, and was allegedly abusive throughout their 18-year relationship. The victim's advocate said Chrystal told her that Charles said he would "come in the middle of the night to kill her and that a protection order was just a piece of paper," the affidavit says.
Snow had been granted a permanent restraining order in June against Charles Martinez for verbal abuse and harassment after the couple split in October 2023, the Denver Post reports.