By LOU CHIBBARO JR, Washington Blade
Dec 19 2008, 12:21 PM |
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UPDATED: Dec 19, 3:21 PM
Two days after a gay man was shot to death near Logan Circle, members of the man’s family huddled together at a makeshift memorial at the murder site before making an appeal for the public to help police identify his killer.
Police said Durval Martins, 35, was found dead at 11th and Q streets, N.W., shortly after 3 a.m. Tuesday, after being shot several times in his head and body.
His twin brother, Pedro Martins, said Durval Martins had been walking home from the bars on 17th Street near Dupont Circle in a break from his normal routine of taking a cab home. Martins lived on the 200 block of Bates St., N.W., about 16 blocks from 17th Street.
“It’s been a very hard time for my family and myself,” he said Thursday at a news conference that his family called to seek out possible witnesses to the crime.
“I feel like part of my heart has died,” he said. “I have faith in the police that they’re going to find these monsters that did this.”
Minutes earlier, Pedro Martins and Durval Martin’s mother, sister, and niece, along with other relatives, wept inconsolably while standing before a gray metal light pole on which a photo of Durval Martins had been taped. Lit candles were at the base of the pole, and hand-written messages expressing love for Durval Martins were taped to the pole.
Police said an officer on patrol about a block away from the site of the shooting heard the gunshots and saw two young men running north on 11th Street. The officer rushed to the scene after calling paramedics and discovered that Martins had his wallet in his hand, as he lay unconscious on the street, according to an account by police.
Martins’ cell phone, cash, credit cards and jewelry were still in his possession, police said.
“I just want top ask everyone out there who has any information in regards to my brother or his whereabouts, if they’ve seen anything, please contact the police department,” Pedro Martins said.
Police are offering a $50,000 reward to anyone who provides information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for the murder.
Commander Rodney Parks, who heads the police homicide squad, said investigators have no suspects and no witnesses.
He said a motive for the killing remains unclear, although investigators believe a “botched robbery” could have been the underlying cause of the killing. Parks noted that investigators have no evidence to indicate the killing was a hate crime or that Martins was targeted because of his sexual orientation.
“That fact that nothing was taken from him makes me question robbery as a motive at all,” said Chris Farris, co-chair of the local group Gays & Lesbians Opposing Violence.
“Whether he was targeted because he was gay, whether he was targeted because he was walking from 17th Street, whether he was targeted for any other reason, the impact on our community is the same,” he said. “We’re all afraid. And we’re all feeling less safe as time goes by instead of more safe.”
Farris said the Martins murder marks yet another in a string of attacks against gay men in Washington during the past six months.
The attacks, most of which police have listed as anti-gay hate crimes, have prompted GLOV and other local gay and transgender groups to call on Mayor Adrian Fenty to convene a community meeting to discuss ways to curtail anti-gay violence in the city.
“He didn’t deserve that,” Pedro Martins said of his slain brother. “He’s even smaller than me. Anybody could have taken him down without having that kind of force or using guns. So I don’t understand. Some cowards did this.”
Police are urging anyone with information that could help identify one or more suspects in the case to contact Det. Paul Regan at 202-425-5563, Det. Doug Carlson at 202-486-0233, or the police tip line at 202-727-9099.
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